Six Chinese middle school students will mount an expedition to the North Pole in June this year with scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
The activity aims to spread the knowledge of science subjects with less popularity among children, including atmospheric physics, geologic prospecting and archeology, said Mao Lihan, director of the Cultural Exchange Center for Teenagers in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province.
According to a plan, the six teenagers will be selected from middle schools in Hangzhou.
If successful, this will be the first time for Chinese middle school students to reach the North Pole, sponsors said.
As part of the city's technology festival this year, the endeavor will also initiate science knowledge promotion among local children, which has been stereotyped as "little invention", "little handicraft" or "observation of ants," Mao said.
The selected students will have the chance to participate in activities like searching for fossils of ancient life-forms in the glaciers, collecting samples of the arctic water and visiting the world's largest aurora observation station.
The plan coincides with the impending launch of China's first observation station in the Arctic in June.
(Xinhua News Agency April 8, 2003)
