Pupils share in Nasa live link

In an age when technology reigns, shared classes between children on different sides of the planet are nothing new, but when they journey into space simultaneously that’s a whole new frontier.

Yesterday, children from schools as far apart as Cork and California took part in a special live-link broadcast with Nasa scientists as part of Earth Day, when events are held worldwide to demonstrate support for environmental protection.

In Cork, 37 students from St Michael’s National School Blackrock, Gaelscoil Mahon, and Beaumont Girls National School, travelled the short distance to CIT Blackrock Castle Observatory to join five other schools globally in the real-time internet link-up with Nasa where they had the opportunity to quiz Nasa scientists on the relationship between human civilisation and our ecosystem.

Students from St Michael’s wanted to know what will happen to the human race as a consequence of climate change.

Nasa scientist Dr Claire Parkinson said climate change had been taking place “for 4.6bn years”, but for the past couple of hundred years, humans had played a part.

“Human beings are now part of the reason why it’s changing and we are becoming more and more aware of the part we play. Unless we cut our emissions, the climate will continue to get warmer.”

However, she said climate change would continue “even if humans are not around”.

Pupils from Ormandale Elementary in San Francisco were interested in an audio-visual creation by film-maker, musician, and composer Kenji Williams. They wanted to know how he had successfully blended science, art, and music.

“I think artists and scientists are very similar in many ways,” said Kenji. “We both share a passion for learning and exploring the mysteries of our world.”

The hour-long live link broached a variety of topics, including the planet’s water cycle, temperatures, clouds, vegetation cover, fires, pollution, and climate change. More than 1bn people around the world took part in the 43rd anniversary of Earth Day.