Media Advisory

Kings Mountain and Denver high school students
to experience UNC's Destiny science learning bus

Media representatives are invited to climb aboard Destiny, one of the buses in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Destiny science learning program, next week as it travels to Kings Mountain and Denver high schools in Cleveland and Lincoln counties, respectively.

Tuesday (Oct. 31)
8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.;
9:38 a.m. to 11:08 a.m.;
11:16 a.m. to 12:47 p.m.
Kings Mountain High School
500 Phifer Road, Kings Mountain
Students from Mercedes Humphries' and Lori Wilbanks' biology 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 (Oct. 31)
1:40 p.m. to 3:10 p.m.
Kings Mountain High School
500 Phifer Road, Kings Mountain
Students from one of Kelly Grier'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 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 (Nov. 1)
8 a.m. to 9:35 a.m.;
9:42 a.m. to 11:12 a.m.
East Lincoln High School
6471 Highway 73, Denver
Two of Heather Ramsey's biology 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.

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. The program 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 may 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. "Mystery of the Crooked Cell" and "The Crucial Concentration" are adapted from Boston University School of Medicine CityLab modules.

The science bus is a powerful visual image that heightens 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 science learning contact: Claire Bury, (919) 843-5915 or bury@unc.edu
News Services contact: Kyle York, (919) 962-8415 or kyle_york@unc.edu