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Media representatives are invited to experience hands-on science aboard a DESTINY traveling science laboratory during school visits next week. Through DESTINY, local students conduct laboratory experiments led by outreach educators from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Morehead Planetarium and Science Center.

Media representatives are invited to experience hands-on science aboard a DESTINY traveling science laboratory during school visits next week. Through DESTINY, local students conduct laboratory experiments led by outreach educators from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Morehead Planetarium and Science Center.

Carteret County
East Carteret High School
3263 U.S. 70 East, Beaufort
Tuesday (Oct. 26)
11:15 a.m.–12:45 p.m.
1:15 p.m.–2:50 p.m.
Stephanie Sanders' biology students will conduct “Get a Clue / Case of the Crown Jewels.”  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.

Craven County
Havelock High School
101 Webb Boulevard, Havelock
Wednesday (Oct. 27)
7:55 a.m.–9:20 a.m.
Rob Thomas' marine biology students will conduct “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.

Cumberland County
Gray's Creek High School
5301 Celebration Drive, Hope Mills
Wednesday (Oct. 27)
12:30 p.m.–1:50 p.m.
LeAndra Barriage's honors biology students will conduct “Get a Clue / Case of the Crown Jewels,” described above.

Massey Hill Classical High School
1062 Southern Ave., Fayetteville
Thursday (Oct. 28)
7:30 a.m.–9 a.m.
10:50 a.m.–12:30 p.m.
At 7:30 a.m., Constance Russell's biology students will conduct “Get a Clue / Case of the Crown Jewels” (described above). At 10:50 a.m., Russell's environmental science students will conduct “Mystery of the Crooked Cell.” Students will discover the molecular basis of sickle cell disease by using gel electrophoresis as a diagnostic tool to differentiate normal hemoglobin from hemoglobin found in individuals with sickle cell disease.

Onslow County
New Bridge Middle School
401 New Bridge St., Jacksonville
Thursday (Oct. 28)
8:20 a.m.–9:30 a.m.
9:30 a.m.–10:40 a.m.
10:40 a.m.–11:50 a.m.
Marjory Anderson's seventh-grade science students will conduct "Genes in a Bottle." Students extract DNA from their own cheek cells using a simple laboratory procedure and watch it precipitate from solution as floating white strands. The DNA strands are collected and transferred into a vial or necklace. "Genes in a Bottle" is offered through DREAMS (Destiny’s Role in Engaging and Advancing Middle School Science), a DESTINY initiative especially for middle schools.

The DESTINY Traveling Science Learning Program serves pre-college teachers and students across North Carolina. DESTINY (Delivering Edge-cutting Science Technology and Internet across North Carolina for Years to come) develops and delivers standards-based, hands-on science curricula 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 17 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

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