SOLVING A 'MURDER' JUNIOR HIGH CLASS GETS TO THE BOTTOM OF 'CRIME SCENES'.

Byline: Sue Doyle Staff Writer

STEVENSON RANCH - They dust and lift fingerprints. They do handwriting analysis in cases of forgery, and they sketch renditions from crime scenes.

Average day at the police academy? No. It's CSI - crime scene investigation - class at Rancho Pico Junior High.

Although most kids haven't seen the hit TV show, because it's on past their bedtime, they've got the gist of it through their work in this elective class where assignments range from solving deadly picnics to ``Who killed Uncle Horace?''

The class helps students with deductive reasoning and problem solving, said science teacher Liz Virnelson, who brought the class to the school.

Each day students learn new crime-solving techniques and apply them to fictional assignments that Virnelson creates.

``It's pretty cool to figure out who killed a person,'' said Matthew Duben, 12.

The case laid before students Monday involved a woman found beaten to death in an apartment stairwell. Neighbors in the story reported seeing a man in a red coat go into the woman's apartment. Knowing what red fabrics the victim had at home, students studied red fibers found on her body under microscopes.

They compared wool, polyester, cotton and silk fibers and then linked them to red coats worn by suspects. But Virnelson reminded them that they'd need more evidence than matching fibers to get a conviction in court.

``You cannot convict someone on one piece of evidence. That's why you as investigators need to present attorneys and juries with a lot of evidence,'' Virnelson told the 12- and 13-year-olds.

Virnelson said students learn that convictions are made from several pieces of evidence, and in class they're learning how to find many of them.

They're learning blood-typing, lip and footprints and how to make composite sketches. They learn the difference between animal and human hair. They've studied nearly every color of human hair possible - from brunet to color-treated - sent courtesy from Virnelson's hair dresser.

On Monday, Chris Paul, 13, and Kevin Arucan, 12, held red fibers into flames and documented how they burned.

Was the residue fluffy ash or melted blob? Did it smell like paper burning, vinegar or chemicals? Does the fiber curl when it gets close to fire?

The class has changed the way eighth-grader Paul sees law enforcement and the work that goes into getting the bad guys.

``I always knew they had to investigate, just not this hard,'' he said.

Virnelson wonders whether the class will pique some students' interest with law enforcement.

For some, the interest is already there.

With a dad who's an officer for the Los Angeles Police Department, every day is crime-solving day for Ian Losorelli, 13.

The eighth-grader said he stays up and watches ``CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'' with his dad at night and that they talk about the crimes during commercials.

Losorelli said he's learning more about detective work in school but that his dad always solves the mysteries first.

``My dad is still the guy who can solve them,'' he said.

Sue Doyle, [phone]

sue.doyle(at)dailynews.com

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2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- 2 -- color) Amanda Dailor, 12, burns a piece of cloth, above, in Liz Virnelson's CSI class at Rancho Pico Junior High in Stevenson Ranch. Below, Virnelson looks over fingerprint made my students, who use deductive reasoning to solve ``crimes.''

David Crane/Staff Photographer