One of the learning modules in the PITT Mobile Science Lab tests to see if foods are genetically modified or not. Students learn about extracting and testing DNA to determine if food is genetically modified.

MARS — Visitors to the Mars New Year celebration can see many unique science-based exhibits, including an interactive mobile science laboratory from the University of Pittsburgh.

The PITT Mobile Science Lab is a self-contained, traveling laboratory that allows students to use high-end equipment to do laboratory investigations. The mobile laboratory is the latest addition to the university’s K-12 science education outreach effort sponsored by the Department of Biological Sciences.

Barbara Paul McTieran, an educator with the mobile lab, said the truck-based lab will be at the Mars New Year on June 19 and 20.

“The biggest benefit of the mobile lab for students is the hands-on experience to understanding science,” Paul McTieran said. “And that their confidence is boosted about their ability to ‘do science’ with the anticipation that they will follow career paths in science disciplines.”

She said the theme on the mobile lab the evening of June 19 will be forensic science. Visitors will have an opportunity to get a finger print, identify their print pattern, identify a bank robber by the type of print left at the crime scene and use a computer game to understand where bones belong in their body.

The theme June 20 is exploring microorganisms. Visitors to the lab will learn about the different types of microorganisms that live on and in our bodies using an interactive computer program. They also will use the microscopes to identify whether a patient has a bacterial or fungal infection.

The festival’s exhibit hours run from 4 to 11 p.m. June 19 and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 20.