Quick Guide & Transcript: Brazilian plane crashes in Amazon, Most Israeli troops leave Lebanon

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(CNN Student News) -- October 2, 2006

Quick Guide

Crash in Brazil - Learn why it was so difficult for rescuers to reach the site of a tragic airplane crash in Brazil.

Israeli Pullout - Get an overview of the latest developments involving Israel, Lebanon, Hezbollah and Gaza.

Zero-G - Check out how floating around weightless will help some teachers pin down a lesson on gravity.

Transcript

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

VIRGINIA CHA, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: It's another week of school and another week of CNN Student News. Glad to have you along, I'm Virginia Cha. The remnants of a terrible air disaster lie in dense jungle of Brazil. Why recovery efforts are taking so long. Israeli forces are leaving Lebanon and leaving behind unanswered questions. Plus, where new violence is creating new worries in the region. And these aren't astronauts, they're teachers! How they went from zero to "zero gravity" and the idea they hope to "float by" their students.

First Up: Crash in Brazil

CHA: First up today, aviation officials in Brazil are investigating a tragic air disaster. Gol Airlines flight 1907 went down Friday in the Amazon Rain Forest. Authorities have been holding out little hope of survivors among the 155 people on board. The dense jungle is complicating recovery efforts. Sarah Sultoon details the recovery and the shock that followed the accident.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARAH SULTOON, CNN REPORTER: Deep inside the dense jungle of the Amazon basin. The first glimpse of the worst air disaster in Brazilian history. Jungle so thick that its taken almost 24 hours since the crash for rescue workers to arrive on the scene.

This is the heart of the biggest rain forest in the world. Near impenetrable jungle covering most evidence of the crash. And making the rescue effort painfully slow. Helicopters are using rope to lower rescue crews to the forest floor. Clearing patches of vegetation from the air in order to get close to the crash site.

Rescue workers even said to be enlisting the help of local Indian tribes people living nearby in this dense Amazonian jungle. The Gol Airlines plane vanished late on Friday after leaving the jungle city of Manaus for the capital Brasilia.

RUTH MELO, RANCH WORKER: My work colleagues saw the plane falling out of the sky, she says. My colleagues saw ... I just heard a massive explosion.

SULTOON: Gol's president says the stricken plane was brand new - with only some 200 hours of flying time behind it. Little comfort for the families of the one hundred fifty five victims. As the investigation begins in earnest. Sarah Sutloon, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

I.D. Me

CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS REPORTER: See if you can ID Me! I'm a country on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. I got my independence from France in 1943. I'm located between Syria and Israel, and my capital is Beirut. The answer is Lebanon, whose official language is Arabic, though Armenian, English and French are spoken there.

Israeli Pullout

CHA: Around the world today, the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur is being observed as a day of reflection. In Israel, people are reflecting on the recent military campaign against Hezbollah militants in Lebanon. This week, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is visiting the Middle East to revive stalled peace talks. Now, as Ben Wedeman reports, attention is turning from the fighting in Lebanon to increasing tensions in Gaza.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN REPORTER: They went in with a roar and they left Lebanon Saturday night with a wave. A low-key end to a controversial military operation bringing the troops home in time for Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.

The goal of Israel's offensive was to win the freedom of two Israeli soldiers captured by Hezbollah on the border and to defang the militant organization. More than 150 Israelis and as many as 1,200 Lebanese were killed in the thirty-four day war.

When it was all over, the two soldiers were still unaccounted for and while Hizballah took a beating, it still had its fangs. Last weekend Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah told supporters at in Beirut's southern suburbs the group has twenty thousand rockets for use against Israel.

Many Israelis across the political spectrum accused the government and the army command of incompetence. But despite the political uproar, other Israelis look on the bright side. Israel has destroyed many of Hezbollah's bunkers and almost 6,000 United Nations troops are now deployed in southern Lebanon. The force is expected to reach 15,000.

HIRSH GOODMAN, ANALYST: Hopefully the presence of the international community with a real mandate this time will preclude further trouble. I don't expect any major confrontation over the Lebanese border in the coming months.

WEDEMAN: But as one front goes quiet, to the south - trouble. In Gaza, running gun battles between Hamas security and Palestinian police demanding their salaries, largely unpaid since donors, led by the United States and the European Union, suspended aid to the Palestinian Authority following Hamas' election victory earlier this year.

While in Ramallah in the West Bank, other protesting Palestinian police officers occupied and set fire to a government building. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has appealed for calm and told the policemen to stop their protests.

Lebanon cooling off, perhaps. Gaza's internal problems definitely heating up. This, as Israeli Army command reportedly considering broadening ground operations in Gaza to stop Palestinian militants from firing homemade rockets into Israel. And into all of this, in just a few days, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is scheduled to come to the middle east and make sense of it all. Ben Wedeman, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Fast Facts

CHA: Time for some Fast Facts! Yom Kippur is the holiest Jewish holiday. This year, it began at sundown last night and ends at sundown tonight. It's a day of fasting, repentance and worship during which most Jews do not work. They traditionally attend religious services at a synagogue or temple on Yom Kippur.

Shoutout

AZUZ: Now it's time for the Shoutout! Who came up with the law of gravitation? If you think you know it, shout it out! Was it: A) Isaac Newton, B) Jakob Bernoulli, C) Pythagoras or D) Alexander Fleming? You've got three seconds--GO! When we're talking about the law of universal gravitation, we're talking about Isaac Newton, who was said to find inspiration in the sight of a falling apple. That's your answer and that's your Shoutout!

Zero-G

CHA: Some teachers are so good, they defy gravity. No kidding, some lucky teachers have been doing just that. Northrop Grumman's "Weightless Flights of Discovery" program has sent carefully selected teachers on "zero gravity" romps, just like the training NASA astronauts get. The program started in June at the Kennedy Space Center, in Florida. It stopped in several cities before wrapping up over the weekend in the Washington, D.C. area. Back on Earth the goal is to help teachers inspire students to pursue science and technology for careers related to space exploration.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LINDA FROSCHAUER, 8TH GRADE SCIENCE TEACHER

WESTON MIDDLE SCHOOL, CT, PRES NATIONAL SCIENCE TEACHERS ASSOC: The concept of gravity is very difficult to teach. Students don't comprehend it easily and by seeing the visuals that they are going to be able to show them, they are going to be able to relate to that.

SOPHIA KIM, PROGRAM MANAGER, NORTHROP GRUMMAN WEIGHLESS FLIGHTS OF DISCOVERY: We need to inspire the next generation of scientist, engineers, mathematicians, because we are sorely lacking in the jobs.

MICHELLE JOHNCOCK, EDMUND BURKE SCHOOL: A flying pig, and in zero gravity we are trying to figure out what its flight path will be.

SHERRY CHEVALLEY, HYBLA VALLEY ELEM SCHOOL

ALEXANDRIA, VA: We usually teach science from a few hands-on activities, maybe a textbook, but we were able to experience zero gravity so we can take this information and go back to the classroom, and then it's real.

FROSCHAUER: Imagine all of these teachers taking that enthusiasm of what they learned today back to their classrooms.

JOHNCOCK: The pig just floated totally in space. His wings got battered off the roof of it and he just kind of drifted up and around. And just like us he had no control over where he was going.

JOHNCOCK: I think this is absolutely phenomenal and a once in a lifetime experience and I can't wait to bring it back to my kids.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Promo

CHA: Teachers, no need for flights of fancy to promote space careers. Today's learning activity gives you all you need to get students thinking about careers in the sciences. Visit CNN.com/EDUCATION and click on the "Watch and Learn" box. And while you're at our site, tell us what you think of CNN Student News. You're e-mail feedback is always welcome!

Before We Go

CHA: Before we go, let's bust a move - international style. In Bremen, Germany, the dancing went from "chillin'" to "thrillin". The city played host to the world hip-hop dance championships over the weekend. More than 3,000 dancers of all ages and from many different countries were "keeping it real" Categories included hip-hop, break dance, and "electric boogie" where everybody did the robot. The winners in the hip-hop duo for youngsters were two girls from Slovakia.

Goodbye

CHA: That was "off the hook". And we're out-of time. But join us tomorrow on CNN Student News. Until then, I'm Viriginia Cha.

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