PUPILS from a Greenock primary school were 'made up' to see the fun side of science during a visit to James Watt College.

Children from Ardgowan Primary were given a hands-on tour of the college's make-up department where they got to see students put their special effects skills to use during a range of gory makeovers.

The P7 class visit was part of a programme to give pupils more practical experience of science before going to secondary school.

The scheme is designed to teach them about the relevance of science in everyday life.

Both the science and the make-up artistry departments at the college organised interesting hands-on activities for the pupils to illustrate the link between different subject areas.

The pupils visited the make-up department where they watched how students used special effects to produce a gory range of wounds.

The P7s then got the chance to try out their new skills, using fake blood and some 'trade secrets' to produce a variety of scary fake wounds on each others' hands and faces.

They then got to look into how forensic science is used to help solve crimes, with blood patterns and fingerprint techniques among the areas explored - like in the hit American TV show CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

Sandra Spence, science lecturer at the college, said: "Pupils also spent some time in the science labs learning about the use of forensic science in identification and dusted for fingerprints before analysing the prints to reveal unique patterns.

"They also created blood spatter patterns and learned what this revealed to scene of crime investigators."

Ardgowan teacher Sheila Smyth said the pupils had enjoyed the trip, adding: "This was a fantastic experience for the children and our thanks go to the college.

"The learning was interactive, hands-on and fun and it opened their eyes to the world of science and to the difficult ways in which it contributes to everyday life."