Eight-year-old Steven Gislason was visiting his grandmother in the Upper Valley last week when he stumbled upon a break-in. Footprints and tire treads surrounded a broken window, and pieces of glass and paper were scattered around inside.

“There's a new thing,” Steven called over to his brother Anthony, 6, staring up at the stuffed eastern moose that stands at the entrance to the second floor at the Montshire Museum of Science in Norwich. “Come here! It's a clue game.”

Both boys and their grandmother, Laura Gislason of Claremont, were soon wandering through “Crime Lab Detectives,” an exhibit about forensic science installed this fall that remains at the museum through Jan. 7. They heard Lois Lang, a cable television reporter, describe how police have been called in to investigate a robbery at the house of Jonathan Johnson, a prominent researcher in the field of nanotechnology.

They studied the scene of the crime and moved from kiosk to kiosk where they listened to taped interviews with the Johnsons and five suspects and looked at shoe molds, fibers, and fingerprints collected by police. Along the way, a particularly engaged sleuth could learn about the process of electrophoresis, in which an electrical current is used to separate DNA into different segments for comparison with other samples, and what makes a hair follicle unique.

Based on the popularity of television shows such as CSI, high school teachers have started using crime scene investigation techniques to teach laboratory skills and science concepts. The Montshire exhibit pitches these ideas at an elementary and middle school audience, taking care to present some of the gorier aspects in a child-friendly way. For example, a discussion of how the size of maggots on a body are used to estimate the time of death centers around a goldfish that died after its fishbowl was smashed during the robbery.

Adults who are tagging along will also appreciate choice details such as the copy of Michael Crichton's Prey, a doomsday novel in which nanosize robots wreak havoc on the world, and the very creditable Pee Wee Herman impression by the actor playing Jonathan's son, Joey Johnson.

The exhibit was developed by the Arkansas Museum of Discovery in Little Rock, so the Johnsons live there. Otherwise, the case and investigation could take place anywhere.

Although the kiosks, from the oversized microscope to the built-in magnifying glasses, are sized for even the smallest school children, the storyline is likely most engrossing for the vacationing middle school crowd. Anthony never really engaged and after less than 15 minutes, Steven was through. But he'd done enough to have an idea about who was the culprit.

“I guessed right,” said Gislason to no one in particular after emerging from the “Solution” booth. Strutting playfully over to his waiting family, he said, “I knew who it was. But I knew they would never admit it.”

The Montshire Museum will open its next exhibit, “Planetary Landscapes: Sculpting the Solar System,” on Jan. 17. In it, sculptures give visual and tactile shape to forces such as air and gravity that create the patterns found on Earth and other planets. Access to both exhibits is free with museum admission, which is $9 for adults and $7 for ages 3 to 17. Children under 2 are free.

In addition, a five-week course called Introduction to the Night Sky begins on Jan. 13. The course runs every Tuesday between 7 and 9:15 p.m. through Feb. 10. The cost is $105 for museum members and $115 for non-members. Pre-registration is required. Call (802) 649-2200.

The Sharon Academy is hosting three panel discussions this winter on topics that affect youth, both for the school community and the public. The panels will include regional experts as well as a parent and an academy student. They begin on Jan. 15 with a talk on “Body Image and Eating Disorders” with nutritionist Marcia Herrin and clinical psychologist Hilary Coons.

Other panels are “The Changing Face of the Internet” scheduled for Feb. 12 and “Risk Taking Behavior” on March 10. All panels are free, though a donation will be requested, and will take place at The Sharon Academy High School off Route 14. For more information contact Elly Boerke at (802) 763-2500, ext. 118 or eboerke@sharonacademy.net.

* The Vermont Governor's Youth Leadership Council wants to expand the number of high schools that participate in its annual conference, which was held this year in late November in Burlington. The council is made up of and organized by teenagers, who plan training and the conference to support teens in leading a drug-free lifestyle and in driving safely.

There are representatives on the council from Blue Mountain Union School (Jamie Eastman), Chelsea High School (Katerine Botelho), Rivendell Academy (Erica Preston), South Royalton High School (Logan Audsley), Whitcomb High School (June Claughton) and Woodstock Union High School (Colin Hagenbarth). For more information about joining, contact program coordinator Lawrence McLiverty at (802) 763-8969.

* The Environmental Protection Agency is sponsoring its third annual Lifecycle Building Challenge competition. The federal agency is inviting professionals, educators and students to submit innovative designs that minimize waste, reuse materials and cut greenhouse gas emissions. For more information, visit lifecyclebuilding.org. Designs must be submitted by Aug. 30, 2009.

Martha Rich, the head of school at Thetford Academy was recently named the outstanding secondary principal for 2008 by the Vermont Principals' Association.

* Debra Bailey, food services specialist at Grantham Village School, received third place in the New England Dairy & Food Council's 2008 Expanding Breakfast Award in recognition of her efforts to bring a healthy breakfast to Grantham's students. The Boston-based council is supported by dairy farmers throughout New England and eastern New York.

Darcy J. Bates of West Lebanon earned a Ph.D. in biochemistry and molecular biology this month from Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, N.C. A graduate of Fall Mountain Regional High School, Bates is the daughter of Nancy Fowler and the late Arthur Bates of Charlestown. She is currently working as a research scientist at the Norris Cotton Cancer Center at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center.

* Kelly Rhae Burrell of Bethel recently earned an associate's degree in nursing from Excelsior College in Albany, N.Y.

* David Wantuch of Grantham has been named to the dean's list for the first quarter at Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, N.Y.

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