Yellowknife (Feb 08/06) - Fifty-five Grade 7 students at William MacDonald school became part of a forensic lab last Wednesday.

Students watched in awe as Sgt. Spencer Robertson from the RCMP crime lab demonstrated how to lift fingerprints using special solutions and fingerprint tape.

Sgt. Spencer Robertson shows Grade 7 student Mathew Messeurschmidt and teacher Gale Martin fingerprints on a beaker at a crime lab presentation at William MacDonald school. - photo courtesy Carmelita Allen

Some even volunteered to have their fingerprints taken.

"The best part was sticking my hand on the paper and my hand kind of got stuck to the paper after," said 12-year-old Brittany Koslowski.

"(My fingerprints) showed up best, so I'd probably be the one caught," she laughed.

Teacher Gale Martin got the idea from her language arts class when they studied mysteries like Edgar Allan Poe's short story The Tell-Tale Heart.

"The students were very interested in fingerprinting. I'd definitely do this again in the future."

Robertson answered a wide variety of questions from students, including whether he carried a gun and if he used any X-ray vision devices.

While many students are familiar with shows like CSI Miami, or CSI New York versions of the popular program Crime Scene Investigation (CSI), there are many differences between the shows and real life.

"We don't get results in an hour and we don't look as good," said Robertson.

The most common evidence found at a crime scene are traces of footwear and fingerprints, as well as DNA, he said. Robertson is currently the only officer in the Yellowknife crime lab. A second officer will be added in March.