Morehead Planetarium and Science Center

The DESTINY (Delivering Edge-cutting Science Technology and Internet across North Carolina for Years to come) Traveling Science Learning Program is Morehead Planetarium and Science Center’s formal science education initiative serving pre-college teachers and students across North Carolina.

DESTINY develops and delivers standards-based, hands-on science curricula, teacher professional development opportunities, and enriched learning for students who otherwise would not be able to experience what jobs in science, biotechnology, health and related fields may offer them.

Traveling throughout North Carolina year-round, DESTINY’s team of educators, along with Destiny and Discovery (two 40-foot, 33,000-pound buses, each fully equipped as a traveling science laboratory that can accommodate 24 students), bring effective science learning to students and provide strong support for teachers.

DESTINY was created by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2000 and has served thousands of North Carolina's teachers and students. It became a program of UNC's Morehead Planetarium and Science Center in 2006.

Our current principal funders are the State of North Carolina and GlaxoSmithKline, with additional support from Bio-Rad Laboratories and the N.C. Biotechnology Center.

Past funders have included the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA) Program in the National Center for Research Resources, Medtronic Inc. and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. IBM and New England BioLabs have provided in-kind support.

Since the program's inception, more than 250,000 students have been impacted by DESTINY's traveling science laboratories and innovative curriculum modules.

In 2007–2008 alone, DESTINY:

• Served 6,226 students through lab-based instruction provided by DESTINY educators on the traveling labs or in classrooms at 155 schools across North Carolina.


• Trained 298 teachers in DESTINY professional development workshops. Participants included elementary, middle school, high school and community college educators teaching in North Carolina's classrooms.

DESTINY develops and adapts instructional modules (sequences of lesson plans) that are aligned with the N.C. Standard Course of Study, so that North Carolina’s teachers can readily provide their students with enriched science learning experiences.

DESTINY aims to provide a curriculum that is relevant to students' lives — helping them to meet the learning challenges they face in school now, while also preparing them to be knowledgeable, engaged citizens with access to good jobs in the future.

DESTINY’s modules are interdisciplinary in order to encourage students to develop their writing and math skills and to help them make content connections as they move from class to class throughout the school day.

Learn more about DESTINY's curriculum modules.

DESTINY was created to address the science education crisis. Many of North Carolina’s secondary schools, particularly those in rural areas, lack access to resources that are essential for quality science education, resulting in:

• Fewer students pursuing science careers
• More science teachers leaving the profession
• Economic development prospects declining for communities

DESTINY takes a multi-pronged approach to addressing science education needs:

• Making science real and relevant for students, both on board the bus or in the classroom
• Providing innovative, effective professional development for teachers
• Providing pre- and post-lab materials and other resources that teachers need in their classrooms
• Researching ways to create positive change in science education

Students

• Increases students’ interest and confidence with fun and practical learning experiences
• Exposes students to hands-on science learning with professional-grade science equipment
• Helps students learn science and perform better on N.C. end-of-course tests, SATs and AP exams
• Provides opportunities for students to envision and pursue careers in science

Teachers

• Empowers teachers with new approaches and more resources to increase science learning
• Offers an innovative, effective curriculum aligned with North Carolina’s Standard Course of Study
• Provides professional development and classroom materials to teachers free of charge
• Provides stipends, grantwriting assistance and other professional support as available

Schools and Communities

• Links university expertise to school systems to strengthen educational opportunities
• Provides interdisciplinary curricula and professional development programs to build school success
• Provides a powerful visual image of what science classrooms can and should look like now
• Supports school systems in cost-effective investment of their equipment and supply dollars

State and Nation

• Contributes to a science-literate society
• Increases diversity in science professions
• Heightens public awareness of the importance of and funding necessary for quality science education
• Strengthens the education foundation necessary for economic development and prosperity