Media Advisory

Trinity and Yanceyville students to experience
UNC's Destiny science learning program

Media representatives are invited to climb aboard Destiny and Discovery, the traveling science laboratories in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Destiny science learning program, when they visit high schools in Trinity and Yanceyville next week. The Discovery bus will visit Bartlett Yancey High School and the Destiny bus will visit Trinity High School.

Monday (Nov. 20)
11:24 a.m. to 12:54 p.m.
1:35 p.m. to 3:05 p.m.
Bartlett Yancey High School
466 E. Main St., Yanceyville
Students from two of Elizabeth Pressley's classes will perform a lab exercise called "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.

Tuesday (Nov. 21)
11:24 a.m. to 12:54 p.m.
1:35 p.m. to 3:05 p.m.
Bartlett Yancey High School
466 E. Main St., Yanceyville
Students from two of Sandra Hylton's chemistry classes 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 measurement method 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.

Tuesday (Nov. 21)
8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.
Trinity High School
5746 Trinity High Drive, Trinity
Students from one of Dianna Cecil's biology classes will perform a lab exercise called "Biological Bodyguards." Students will examine the vital role that the body's immune system takes to fight illness and prevent disease. Assuming the role of medical lab technicians, students will use a simulated viral extract and perform an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to screen hypothetical patients for the presence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

The Destiny traveling science learning program is the 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. "Mystery of the Crooked Cell" and "The Crucial Concentration" are developed from Boston University School of Medicine CityLab modules. 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.

The Destiny program's activities for Caswell County schools are federally funded by the Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA) program. SEPA's goals are to engage the public in medical research, stimulate interest in science and encourage the next generation of health professionals. 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.