A lesson from orbit

1997, National Television Company of Ukraine. An episode of the programme ‘Lesson from Orbit’, dedicated to a joint Ukrainian-American experiment in which pupils and teachers from Ukraine took part as part of the preparations for a joint flight by astronauts aboard the space shuttle.

The focus is on astro-culture, or the Wisconsin fast-growing plant, a variety of rapeseed bred by Professor Paul Williams — head of the educational programme for the joint Ukrainian-American experiment. Participants — school pupils and students — are tasked with studying the effect of microgravity conditions on the pollination and fertilisation of this plant.

In the video: an excerpt from a lesson given by the scientist to Ukrainian biology teachers on how to master the technology for conducting the experiment and develop supplementary teaching materials; comments from Professor Williams and Volodymyr Nazarenko, a senior research fellow at the O. Palladin Institute of Biochemistry of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and the programme coordinator for Ukraine, as well as from teachers and pupils; footage of the cultivated astro-culture.