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Jose Espinoza, 14, looks at a polymer he made in an eighth-grade science class at Washington Middle School, 1101 Park Ave. S.W. A professor and students from the University of New Mexico's Center for Biomedical Engineering taught the lab on Tuesday as part of an educational grant from the National Science Foundation.

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A young lab technician mixed two liquids — and presto — he created what looked like a long piece of Jell-O.

"That's cool," Jose Gonzalez, 14, said as he wiggled the substance, technically called a polymer, twisting and turning it around like a yellow worm.

There were no white coats in the lab, just 20 wide-eyed eighth-graders at Washington Middle School, 1101 Park Ave. S.W.

On Tuesday, the class took part in an outreach program by the University of New Mexico to get young students interested in science, and hopefully to pursue an education and career in the field.

UNM Center for Biomedical Engineering received a $2.5 million grant million last summer from the National Science Foundation to fund a research and educational partnership with Harvard University, Albuquerque Public Schools and the Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute on Albuquerque's West Side.

The grant allows university science students to do hands-on experiments with APS students.

Elizabeth Dirk, assistant professor in the department of chemical and nuclear engineering at UNM, said Washington is the first middle school the UNM group has visited.

Last year, the group gave presentations at six elementary schools and one high school in Albuquerque.

This year, it is focusing on the Albuquerque High cluster, which includes all schools in that district.

"Ideally, as this project develops, they (students) will see us in fifth grade, eighth grade and high school," Dirk said.

The eighth-grade science class the group visited at Washington is an inclusion class, which incorporates general education, special education students and English-language learners in one class.

She said it's essential to recruit students, especially at this age.

"Eighth grade is important," Dirk said. "Studies have shown this is where under-represented students have dropped out of science. Outreach is important to get them interested."

Michael Stanton, educational consultant for the Southwest Small Schools Workshop, said the goal is to have UNM partner with the neediest areas and present students with opportunities they might not have had before.

"A school like Washington that's below annual yearly progress, it's important to show the connections with the real world through hands-on learning," he said.

The students worked with chemicals and showed each other their creations as they received guidance from UNM students.

John Miller, spokesman for Albuquerque Public Schools, said the visits from bioengineering students at UNM are beneficial to elementary, middle school and high school students.

"I think the schools are always looking for new ways to bring science into classrooms, to bring new and interesting ways for classes to experience things that are happening in the real world," he said. "It makes colleges seem like a more reachable goal if they see college students come into their classroom and (they) get a handle on what these college students are teaching them."

Anne Hellesbust, a junior in chemical engineering at UNM, said she's always had a love for biology and wants to share her passion with other students.

"A lot of people don't see science as an option. They are not exposed to it," she said.

She said it's important to try to change that by doing experiments with students.

"I think everyone learns better with hands-on (experience)," she said.

She said at the beginning the students seemed bored, but as soon as they started experimenting, they perked up.

"I'm amazed the kind of things they come up with and the questions that aren't as obvious to us," she said.

Jose Lopez, 14, said the hands-on experience has gotten him more interested in science. He is considering the possibility of having a career in the field.

"I like putting the sodium in cups and making worms," he said. "It's something fun."

In May, officials at UNM's Center for Biomedical Engineering will send an annual report to the National Science Foundation in Washington along with some of the students' science reports.

"It will give them an idea of what's going on in our outreach program here in Albuquerque."

Dirk said the students' enthusiasm makes the outreach program worthwhile, and she hopes it will expand.

As the students left for their next class, they asked if they could take their creations home. After they got the OK, they stuffed them in their backpacks.

As Dirk looked at the students, she said some of these faces might be the future of science.

"The thought that they might come to UNM and be students, it's exciting," she said.