Young minds challenged at USQ Day of Excellence

It looked like a scene from CSI: Miami – but with the investigation unit made up of 12-year-olds.

The children were taking part in forensic science classes as part of the second annual USQ Day of Excellence held in Hervey Bay on September 15.

More than 150 top-achieving Year 7 students from primary schools in Hervey Bay, Maryborough and Bundaberg were selected to attend the day.

It was jointly organised by USQ Fraser Coast and the Fraser Coast Anglican College (FCAC) as a means of giving the children university-style classes aimed at challenging their minds.

Classes included higher order mathematics, mock court cases, computer game programming, gallery-standard art, creative thinking and authors getting published.

The students who took part in the forensic science classes carried out a simulated murder investigation under the instruction of USQ Faculty of Sciences Deputy Dean, Professor Grant Daggard.

The body (a dummy) was lying on the floor with seven knives around him. It was the students’ job to extract DNA from the knives to determine which one had been used as the murder weapon.

USQ Fraser Coast campus Provost, Professor Ken Stott said the students were curious and deeply engaged by the classes.

He said the classes had taken them to a new intellectual level and exposed them to some of the region’s best teachers.

Last year 60 students took part. This year we had almost 160 students, so it was an overwhelming response.'