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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 a Chatham County school next week.

Wednesday (March 3)
9 to 10 a.m.
10:45 a.m. to 11:45 a.m.
Moncure Elementary School
600 Moncure School Road, Moncure
Jerome Grammentz’s seventh-grade science students (9 a.m. class) will perform the lab exercise called “Code Red.”  Students will identify the substances comprising blood, analyze the genetic and cellular basis of blood types and test simulated blood samples to determine safe transfusions. Grammentz’s eighth-grade science students (10:45 a.m. class) will perform an exercise called “So Fresh, So Clean.” Students will learn about the chemistry of water and its role in their daily lives through an investigation of the differences and similarities of bottled water and tap water.  They will build their own pH scales and simulate part of the water treatment process. Both laboratory modules are offered by DREAMS (Destiny’s Role in Engaging and Advancing Middle School Science), a new DESTINY initiative especially for middle schools.

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