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Media representatives are invited to experience the first year of GlaxoSmithKline’s Science in the Summer program in North Carolina while observing a science camp for second- to eighth-grade students from Chatham County next week. Science in the Summer in North Carolina is sponsored by GlaxoSmithKline and administered by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Morehead Planetarium and Science Center. The camp, held at the Pittsboro campus of Central Carolina Community College, is part of a series of nine camps in six counties that target science education in North Carolina. The theme for this summer’s camp is genetics.

Monday to Friday (Aug. 4-8)
9 a.m. to noon ( second- to third-grade students)
1 p.m. to 4 p.m. (fourth- to fifth-grade students)
Central Carolina Community College
764 West Street, Pittsboro

During five-day camp sessions, 40 second- to fifth-grade students will be introduced to the terms genetics, traits, cell, nucleus, chromosome, genes and DNA through GlaxoSmithKline’s Science in the Summer genetics curriculum. Activities will include extracting DNA from a strawberry and making a colorful bracelet that reflects genetic traits. The students will also perform activities from Morehead Planetarium and Science Center’s “Wild Things” curriculum, where they will learn about animal behavior, habitats and how animals communicate.

Monday (Aug. 4)
10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Central Carolina Community College
764 West Street, Pittsboro

Eleven sixth- to eighth-grade students will board one of Morehead Planetarium and Science Center’s Destiny traveling laboratories. They will perform a hands-on science exercise called “Genes in a Bottle,” where they will extract DNA from their own cheek cells, and students will leave with a necklace containing their own cheek cell DNA.

GlaxoSmithKline’s Science in the Summer program in North Carolina is a free science education initiative that targets science education through summer camps for second- through eighth-grade students and teacher workshops in partnership with libraries in Alamance, Caswell, Chatham, Durham, Franklin and Harnett counties.

It follows the model of GlaxoSmithKline’s Science in the Summer program in the Pittsburgh and Philadelphia areas, which is now entering its 22nd year and has introduced more than 92,000 children to science.

GlaxoSmithKline, one of the world’s leading research-based pharmaceutical and healthcare companies, is committed to improving the quality of human life by enabling people to do more, feel better and live longer.

Since opening in 1949, Morehead Planetarium and Science Center has welcomed more than 7 million people to learn more about science through school field trips, multimedia Star Theater shows, classes for adults and children, summer camps, guest speakers, digital films and special events.

The Destiny traveling science learning program is a science education outreach initiative of Morehead Planetarium and Science Center that serves 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. Created by Carolina in 2000, Destiny became a program of Morehead Planetarium and Science Center in 2006.

Please note: We request that all reporters interested in observing the Science in the Summer camps contact Claire Ruocchio, (919) 843-3475, clr@unc.edu.

GlaxoSmithKline Web site: http://www.gsk.com
Morehead Planetarium and Science Center Web site: http://ww.moreheadplanetarium.org
Destiny Web site: http://www.moreheadplanetarium.org/go/destiny

GlaxoSmithKline contact: Karen Brown-Tyson, (919) 483-2804
Morehead Planetarium and Science Center contact: Claire Ruocchio, (919) 843-3475, clr@unc.edu
News Services contact: Susan Houston, (919) 962-8415, susan_houston@unc.edu

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