Media representatives are invited to experience hands-on science aboard one of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s two traveling science laboratories when it visits two schools in Caswell County next week.
Media representatives are invited to experience hands-on science aboard one of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s two traveling science laboratories when it visits two schools in Caswell County next week.
Tuesday, Oct. 6
10:18 a.m. to 11:26 a.m.
11:30 a.m. to 1:08 p.m.
and
Wednesday, Oct. 7
8 a.m. to 9:03 a.m.
9:06 a.m. to 10:14 a.m.
N.L. Dillard Middle School
255 Hatchett Road, Yanceyville
Thursday, Oct. 8
11:55 a.m. to 1:25 p.m.
1:35 p.m. to 3:05 p.m.
Bartlett Yancey High School
466 E. Main St., Yanceyville
On Tuesday and Wednesday, Janet Collie's eighth-grade science students will perform a lab exercise called “So Fresh, So Clean.” Students will learn about the chemistry of water and its role in their daily lives through an investigation of the differences and similarities of bottled water and tap water. They will build their own pH scales and simulate part of the water treatment process. This module is offered by DREAMS (Destiny’s Role in Engaging and Advancing Middle School Science), a new Destiny initiative especially for middle schools.
On Thursday, Sandra Hylton’s chemistry students will perform a lab exercise called “The Crucial Concentration.” Students will assume the role of laboratory investigators for a court case to determine the amount of protein found in three sports drinks. Using the general concept of the Lowry assay and microanalysis skills, students will learn how to use a spectrophotometer, measure absorbencies, collect quantitative data and produce a standard curve to find the protein content in each sample.
The Destiny Traveling Science Learning Program is a science education outreach initiative of Morehead Planetarium and Science Center at UNC-Chapel Hill, 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 buses equipped as mobile science laboratories, bring advanced science and technology equipment to students who otherwise might not see high-tech experiments or what a career in science can offer. The mobile science labs are powerful visual images that heighten public awareness of the importance of and funding necessary for quality science education.
To be eligible to request a visit from a Destiny mobile science lab, each participating teacher must attend workshops to learn how to incorporate module activities and experiments into his or her classroom. Destiny offers 15 different science modules, each aligned with the N.C. Standard Course of Study.
The Destiny program was created by UNC-Chapel Hill in 2000. Its principal funders are the State of North Carolina and GlaxoSmithKline, with additional support from Bio-Rad Laboratories and from the North Carolina Biotechnology Center. Since 2006, Destiny has been part of Morehead Planetarium and Science Center.
Destiny Web site: www.moreheadplanetarium.org/go/destiny
Destiny media contact: Karen Kornegay, (919) 843-7952, kck@unc.edu
News Services contact: Susan Houston, (919) 962-8415, susan_houston@unc.edu