News Release

Media invited to meet Chinese delegates at Morehead Planetarium

Media representatives are invited to meet delegates from the Beijing Association for Science and Technology as they learn about trends in American science education at Morehead Planetarium and Science Center on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Wednesday (Aug. 1)
10:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
Morehead Planetarium and Science Center
250 E. Franklin St., Chapel Hill
UNC campus

Visitors from China will explore the planetarium’s Star Theater, “Zoom In: Science at the Extremes” exhibit and Destiny traveling science program mobile laboratory. The delegates’ visit is part of an exchange between the Beijing Association for Science and Technology and the N.C. Grassroots Science Museums Collaborative, which includes the planetarium.

Note: The best opportunities for visuals for the story are from 10:45 to 11:15 a.m., when the delegates are aboard the Destiny bus, and from 11:30 a.m. to noon, when they are touring the interactive “Zoom In” exhibit inside the building. Delegates will be available for short interviews from noon to 12:15 p.m.

UNC’s Morehead Planetarium and Science Center provides informal science educational programming to nearly 140,000 visitors every year. “Zoom In” is an interactive exhibit that highlights the big and small of the universe, from stars to cilia.

The Destiny traveling science learning program is a formal science education initiative serving pre-college teachers and students across North Carolina. 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.

Morehead contacts: Karen Kornegay (planetarium), (919) 843-7952 or kck@unc.edu; Claire Ruocchio (Destiny), (919) 843-5915 or clr@unc.edu
Morehead Web site: http://www.moreheadplanetarium.org

News Services contact: Susan Houston, (919) 962-8415 or susan_houston@unc.edu