Through the wonders of connecting with NASA digital learning network in California, third graders at Panther Valley Elementary School got a chance to converse with David Alexander from NASA. The students have been preparing for the NASA video conference for the past month, studying the solar system.

The video conference, which was a two way interactive event using a television, camera, and

P.V.E.S.'s Polycom Video Conference equipment, let the students from the elementary school in the library talk first hand with Alexander at NASA Dryden Research Center in CA. The students were impressed how they can communicate and learn this way without leaving school.During this event, students will exchange information about our distinctive planets orbiting one massive star, our Sun. They will learn about current NASA missions and how we use the information gathered to further our exploration of space.Alexander shared pictures, video and also conversation about each planet, the sun, moons, asteroids and some of our dwarf planets. The students learned more information about how many Earth days it takes each planet to travel around the sun by using a bar graph.Several students shared their research about each planet as well as Alexander teaching them more characteristics of the planets in our solar system, their size, the distances beween them, and the paths they travel.He also shared how important it is for our young students to get involved in learning science, maths and technology to help one day support our NASA program."I feel it was a memorable experience for our third grade students to learn technology and science through this interactive video conference event. We are thankful to NASA for providing an awesome experience at no cost," said Lori Hahn, PVES computer teacher. She was assisted by Dan Kucherich, computer network technician.