Media Advisory

Matthews and Monroe students to experience
UNC's Destiny science learning program

Media representatives are invited to climb aboard Discovery, one of the traveling science laboratories from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Destiny science learning program, when it visits three Union County high schools in Matthews and Monroe next week.

Tuesday (Dec. 12)
8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m.
1:40 p.m. to 3:15 p.m.
Weddington High School
4901 Monroe Weddington Road, Matthews
Students from two of Juan Roldan'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.

Wednesday (Dec. 13)
8:15 a.m. to 9:45 a.m.
Piedmont High School
3006 Sikes Mill Road, Monroe
Students from one of Tonya Adams' 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 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.

Wednesday (Dec. 13)
10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
1:45 p.m. to 3:15 p.m.
Piedmont High School
3006 Sikes Mill Road, Monroe
Students from two of Beth Walker'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 (Dec. 14)
10:06 a.m. to 11:36 a.m.
1:48 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Monroe High School
1 High School Drive, Monroe
Students from two of Sandra Ketchie's 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 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. 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.

For more information, go to http://www.destiny.unc.edu

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Destiny contact: Claire Bury, (919) 843-5915 or bury@unc.edu
News Services contact: Becky Oskin, (919) 962-8596 or becky_oskin@unc.edu