Media representatives are invited to experience hands-on science aboard Discovery, one of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s two traveling science laboratories, when it visits Northeast Guilford High School, Parkland Magnet High School and Glenn High School next week.
Tuesday (Sept. 11)
10:38 a.m. to 12:08 p.m.
2:12 p.m. to 3:42 p.m.
Northeast Guilford High School
6700 McLeansville Road, McLeansville
Students from Leslie Carriker’s biology and advanced placement biology classes will perform a lab exercise called “From Finches to Fishes.” Students will learn the fundamental principles of evolution and natural selection. Protein gel electrophoresis will be used to acquire molecular data with which students will construct an evolutionary tree for five fish species. Students will examine proteomics as the new frontier of molecular biology and its importance to understanding the structure and function of the human genome and the genomes of other organisms.
Wednesday (Sept. 12)
10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m.
12:30 p.m. to 2:05 p.m.
Parkland High School
1600 Brewer Road, Winston-Salem
Students from Tara Cleveland’s anatomy and honors anatomy classes will perform a lab exercise called “Get a Clue.” Students will assume the role of forensic scientists and perform DNA restriction analysis (popularly known as DNA fingerprinting) to analyze drops of “blood” and other kinds of evidence found at crime scenes as they determine which suspects are guilty or innocent.
Thursday (Sept. 13)
8:55 a.m. to 10:25 a.m.
12:35 p.m. to 2:05 p.m.
Glenn High School
1600 Union Cross Road, Kernersville
Students from one of Kelly Gage’s biology and honors biology classes will also perform “Get a Clue.”
The Destiny traveling science learning program is Morehead Planetarium and Science Center’s formal science education initiative serving pre-college teachers and students across North Carolina. Destiny develops and delivers a standards-based, hands-on curriculum and teacher professional development with a team of educators and a fleet of vehicles that travel throughout the state.
Destiny and Discovery, two custom-built, 40-foot, 33,000-pound buses, bring the latest science and technology equipment to students who otherwise would not see a high-tech laboratory or what a career in science can offer. The modules described above are among 14 offered as part of Destiny’s curriculum. All of Destiny’s modules are aligned with the N.C. Standard Course of Study.
The science buses are powerful visual images that heighten public awareness of the importance of and funding necessary for quality science education. The Destiny program first hit the road in 2000.
Destiny Web site: http://www.moreheadplanetarium.org/go/destiny
Destiny contact: Claire Ruocchio, (919) 843-5915 or clr@unc.edu
News Services contact: Susan Houston, (919) 962-8415 or susan_houston@unc.edu