To those passing by the Morehead Planetarium last Saturday, the Destiny bus may have appeared to be an ordinary vehicle idling in anticipation of its passengers. But inside, Destiny was bustling with activity. Clad in safety goggles, aprons and Carolina-blue rubber gloves, a group of eighth-grade female students and their mentors spent the afternoon performing a science experiment using the latest science and technology equipment installed on the Destiny. The experiment, titled "Genes in a Bottle," gave students the chance to learn about genetics by extracting DNA from their own cheek cells. The students were silent as they listened intently to the instructions given by Lenis Chen, Destiny's community education specialist. The Destiny program, Morehead Planetarium's traveling science learning initiative, features two custom-built, 40-foot, 33,000-pound buses called Destiny and Discovery. The high-tech labs on these two buses give students who would not otherwise be exposed to modern scientific technology the chance to see what a career in science can offer them, according to Chen. This is why mentor Alecia Bell from the Women and Mathematics Mentoring Program elected to take her students on a field trip aboard Destiny. The Women and Math program, which has been in existence since 1993 in Durham County and 1995 in Wake County, aims to retain the interest of girls who already excel in science and math by pairing them with female mentors with science- or math-related careers. "It's important for girls to do whatever they like, and this is the age when they decide what they like. Science can be intimidating, and it is good for them to see women in science and math," says Bell, a service processor test lead at IBM who has been involved with the program for two years. "(TV) shows like CSI help to dispel the stereotype that science is a nerdy field. The girls see science in these shows and want to do what the scientists are doing." Both the Women and Math and the Destiny programs strive to keep girls interested in science and math by showing them that these subjects can be fun. Mentors in the Women and Math program take their students on several field trips per year. Bell has also taken her students to Marjorie Lee Browne Day, where students spent the day doing science and math activities and participate in a virtual-reality activity. "Hands-on experiments like 'Genes in a Bottle' instill confidence in girls that they can do fun science," says Chen. Each girl stepped off the Destiny bus with a necklace containing her own cheek cell DNA. The collaboration between the Destiny program and the Women and Math program appears to be a success. "(Genes in a Bottle) was really cool because it is something that I have never done," said Lyndsay Barnes, an eighth-grader at Carrington Middle School. "Genes in a Bottle" is Crystal Terry's favorite experiment thus far. "I liked it because I could see DNA outside of my body," said Terry, also an eighth-grade student at Carrington. Because of Terry's involvement in the Women and Math program, she now wants to attend the N.C. School of Science and Math to prepare herself for a career related to math, "like cooking." Barnes is also interested in pursuing a science- or math-related career. "It's my best subject." Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.du.