Media Advisory

UNC's Discovery science learning bus
to visit Conway, Elizabeth City and Gatesville

Media representatives are invited to climb aboard Discovery, one of the traveling science laboratories in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Destiny science learning program, when it visits high schools in Conway, Elizabeth City and Gatesville this week.

Tuesday (Nov. 14)
1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Pasquotank County High School
1064 Northside Road, Elizabeth City
Students from one of Sharon Meads' biology classes will perform a lab exercise called "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.

Wednesday (Nov. 15)
8:15 a.m. to 9:45 a.m.
10 a.m. to 11:10 a.m.
Gates County High School
088 Highway 158 West, Gatesville
Students from two of Teri Campbell's biology classes will perform a lab exercise called "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.

Thursday (Nov. 16)
9:04 a.m. to 10:34 a.m.
11:24 a.m. to 12:46 p.m.
Northampton County High School - East
750 NCHS-E Road, Conway
Students from two of Yvonne Sims' biology classes will perform a lab exercise called "From Finches to Fishes." Students will learn fundamental principles of evolution and natural selection, and protein gel electrophoresis will be used to acquire molecular data with which students will construct an evolutionary tree for five fish species.

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 13 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. Destiny first hit the road in 2000. Visit http://www.destiny.unc.edu for more information.

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Destiny contact: Claire Bury, (919) 843-5915 or bury@unc.edu.
News Services contact: Lisa Katz, (919) 962-2093 or lisa_katz@unc.edu.