Media Advisories Cumberland County students to solve mysteries, learn 'weigh' to go aboard Destiny bus
| Cumberland County students to solve mysteries, learn 'weigh' to go aboard Destiny bus |
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| Friday, March 27, 2009 | |
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Media representatives are invited to experience hands-on science aboard one of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s two traveling science laboratories when it visits schools in Fayetteville and Hope Mills next week. Tuesday (March 31) 1:55 p.m. to 3:25 p.m. Gray’s Creek High School 5301 Celebration Drive, Hope Mills Leandra Barriage’s anatomy and physiology students will perform a lab exercise called “Weigh to Go!” Students will explore the connections between obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Using hydrophobic interactive chromatography, a key process in biotechnology research, students will purify a genetically engineered designer protein (simulated modified leptin) from transformed bacterial cells. Wednesday (April 1) 12:40 p.m. to 1:10 p.m. 1:15 p.m. to 2:40 p.m. Massey Hill Classical High School 1062 Southern Ave., Fayetteville Constance Russell’s biology students 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. Thursday (April 2) 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. (Roseberry) 10:06 a.m. to 11:36 a.m. (Holofchak) South View High School 4184 Elk Road, Hope Mills Tracie Roseberry’s and Mary Holofchak’s biology students 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 a science education outreach initiative of Morehead Planetarium and Science Center at UNC-Chapel Hill, 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 buses equipped as mobile science laboratories, bring advanced science and technology equipment to students who otherwise might not see high-tech experiments or what a career in science can offer. The mobile science labs are powerful visual images that heighten public awareness of the importance of and funding necessary for quality science education. To be eligible to request a visit from a Destiny mobile science lab, each participating teacher must attend workshops to learn how to incorporate module activities and experiments into his or her classroom. Destiny offers 15 different science modules, each aligned with the N.C. Standard Course of Study. The Destiny program was created by UNC-Chapel Hill in 2000. Its principal funders are the State of North Carolina and GlaxoSmithKline, with additional support from Bio-Rad Laboratories and from the North Carolina Biotechnology Center. Since 2006, Destiny has been part of Morehead Planetarium and Science Center. Destiny Web site: www.moreheadplanetarium.org/go/destiny Destiny media contact: Karen Kornegay, (919) 843-7952, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it News Services contact: Susan Houston, (919) 962-8415, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it |