Pupils in Tibet get a lesson from space station
Students in Lhasa, Tibet autonomous region, attend a live class given by Shenzhou XIII crew members on Thursday. [Photo by Palden Nyima/chinadaily.com.cn]
More than 80 primary school pupils in Lhasa, Tibet autonomous region, listened to a livestreaming science lecture presented by astronauts aboard the Chinese space station on Thursday afternoon at the Tibet Museum of Natural Science.
The students joined others at more than 50 provincial and city science and technology museums around the country as three astronauts — Major General Zhai Zhigang, Senior Colonel Wang Yaping and Senior Colonel Ye Guangfu — explained their life and work inside the space station and demonstrated physical phenomena in microgravity, including the way objects behave, fluid tension and cell biology.
Students in Tibet carry out an experiment during a live class given by crew members aboard Shenzhou XIII on Thursday. [Photo by Palden Nyima/chinadaily.com.cn]
Wang Junjie, deputy head of the Tibet Science and Technology Department, said it was a great honor to be chosen as one of the sites in China's western region to join the space lesson livestream, which gave young students an opportunity to explore science.
"Students will have an opportunity to understand more about biology, physics and chemistry through various experiments in space," said Wang, adding that will fire students' interest in the future about the mysteries of space and the universe.
Students in Lhasa, Tibet autonomous region, attend a live class given by astronauts on Thursday. [Photo by Palden Nyima/chinadaily.com.cn]
Tashi Wangmo, a student at Lhasa Experimental Primary School, said she was pleased to hear the astronauts' class.
"I'm more interested and curious now about things in outer space," she said. "I was also honored to perform a Tibetan dance during the activity on behalf of many Tibetan students."
Students in Tibet carry out an experiment during a live class given by crew members aboard Shenzhou XIII on Thursday. [Photo by Palden Nyima/chinadaily.com.cn]
Ngawang Tenba, a student from Lhasa's No 1 Primary School, said he was happy and surprised. It was the first time he had attended such a meaningful activity.
"I learned about the physical phenomenon of disappearing buoyancy and that there is no gravity in space," he said.
Students in Tibet carry out an experiment during a live class given by crew members aboard Shenzhou XIII on Thursday. [Photo by Palden Nyima/chinadaily.com.cn]
Rinchen Drolkar, a teacher at the school, said the activity stimulated her students' interest in science.
"The activity embodied the nation's technology development, and our students have learned some new things that we could not teach in a class on Earth," she said.