Notice to the media: Reporters, photographers and video camera operators will be allowed in Ruffner Hall, room 241, where the live transmission will occur. However, everyone will need to be in place by 5:15 p.m. To make arrangements, call Dave Drucker at (804) 924-0822. U.VA. CURRY SCHOOL TO BE SITE OF UNPRECEDENTED ELECTRONIC FIELD TRIP TO THE SOUTH POLE CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., Jan. 7 -- Third-grade students from Burnley-Moran Elementary School will participate in the first live teleconference linking Charlottesville teacher April Lloyd and scientists at the South Pole Tuesday, January 10, at 5:30 p.m. at the University of Virginia's Curry School of Education. During the broadcast approximately 20 students will be working on a variety of science experiments with Lloyd, a Burnley-Moran teacher who left for Antarctica Dec. 16. Scientists at the geographic South Pole and Lloyd, who received extensive training on how to live and work in frigid conditions, will be interacting with the students as they conduct experiments in a Ruffner Hall laboratory. The teachers, scientists and students will be examining the geology and geography of Antarctica, experimenting with how cold affects objects and participating in infrared experiments. The students' parents and the public can watch the free broadcast in Ruffner Hall auditorium. "This promises to be a historic moment. A live feed from the Pole has never been attempted before," said David Drucker, director of the Curry school's Instructional Resource Center, who is producing the Charlottesville segment. During the broadcast that will link by satellite students in Charlottesville, Chicago and Honolulu, 17-year-old Elizabeth Felton will use U.S. Geological Survey data to reposition the copper marker designating Earth's geographic South Pole. A recent graduate of a Chicago public school, Felton will describe what it feels like to move the marker, which must be repositioned annually to compensate for ice slippage. Many of the students participating in the telecast have been in contact with Lloyd and Antarctica scientists through such Internet tools as electronic mail; Mosaic, a graphics viewer; and CuSee-me, an Internet teleconference utility. They have been exploring many of the scientific concepts that will be probed further in the "Spaceship South Pole" broadcast. Lloyd, a U.Va. graduate who participated in a Curry school program that encourages teachers to design student-centered science experiments, advocates the use of electronic communications for classroom learning. The broadcast is one of four electronic field trips in a "Live from Antarctica" series co-designed by Maryland Public Television and Geoff Haines-Stiles Productions, in association with WTTW-TV in Chicago. Created with the support of the National Science Foundation and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the series consists of four 40-minute telecasts that examine Antarctica's geology, weather, biology and animal life and describe astronomical, climatic and environmental research being conducted there. The first segment was broadcast Dec. 13 and the final one is scheduled for Jan. 19. The Jan. 10 segment, the only live broadcast, will be rebroadcast Jan. 12 at 2 p.m. over various public television stations. If weather conditions or technical difficulties prohibit the live broadcast as scheduled, it will be attempted Thursday, Jan. 12, at 5:30 p.m., Drucker said. Co-sponsored by U.Va.'s Curry School of Education and Charlottesville City Schools, the live segment in Charlottesville is made possible through the technical and financial support of the Curry school's Instructional Resource Center, with additional technical support from the education and distance learning department in the continuing education division. ### January 6, 1995 FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION about the Charlottesville broadcast, contact Drucker at (804) 924-0822. For information on the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the U.S. Antarctic Program, contact Lynn Simarski, NSF Office of Legislative and Public Affairs, at (703) 306-1070. For more information on Maryland Public Television and Geoff Haines-Stiles Productions, call Devillier Communications at (202) 833-8121. To learn more about the Antarctic project or to receive a free guide, call (800) 626-LIVE.