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    (CNN Student News) -- March 22, 2007 Quick GuideGore's Global Warning - Hear what a former vice president has to say to Congress about climate change. Iran & the U.N. - Find out what many Iranians are hoping for as their new year dawns. Classroom in the Clouds -Take a ride in a new Florida classroom that leaves gravity back on the ground. TranscriptTHIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. MONICA LLOYD, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: It's Thursday and it's time for CNN Student News. From CNN Center, I'm Monica Lloyd. A politician's return: Why former Vice President Gore was back in Washington Wednesday and what he had to say. A country's concerns: Why an anticipated U.N. Security Council vote is affecting Iran's New Year's celebrations. And a classroom's takeoff: Why some students might get to float their way through science projects. First Up: Gore's Global Warning LLOYD: First up today, a politician heads back to his old stomping grounds. Some of you may remember him as vice president, but these days you're more likely to know Al Gore from his documentary "An Inconvenient Truth". Gore was in Washington Wednesday to testify to Congress about global warming, the focus of the movie and a topic he's been discussing since his days in Congress. Andrea Koppel recaps the former congressman and senator's visit back to the Hill. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN REPORTER: From Hollywood's red carpet to Capitol Hill's marble halls, the former vice president came to Washington with an urgent message and boxes filled with what he claimed were half a million letters demanding Congress take real action on global warming. FORMER VICE PRESIDENT AL GORE: This is the most dangerous crisis we've ever faced. But also is the greatest opportunity we've ever been confronted with. KOPPEL: For hours, in the House and Senate, Mr. Gore held court, more professor than politician. GORE: Water vapor is indeed most common greenhouse gas. And it magnifies. Each one of these CO2 molecules has a kind of chemical signature. KOPPEL: Calling it a moral imperative, Gore said the solution would depend upon: an immediate freeze of carbon dioxide emissions, a 90% reduction by 2050, as well as enacting a pollution tax. It's a message Mr. Gore tried to spread during the 16 years he represented Tennessee in Congress, a point his friends didn't forget. REP. EDWARD MARKEY, (D) MASSACHUSETTS: What you were saying about environmental issues back then now retrospectively, really do make you look like a prophet. KOPPEL: Prophet to some Democrats, problem-maker to some Republicans like Oklahoma's James Inhofe, who has called global warming a hoax. SEN. JAMES INHOFE, (R) OKLAHOMA: Thousands of meteorologists, geologists, physicists, astro-physicists, climatologists and scientists who disagree with you. Are they all wrong and you're right? KOPPEL: Mr. Gore tried to sneak out the committee's back door to avoid answering the other question on the minds of many. Will he use his new celebrity status to launch a presidential campaign? KOPPEL: Are you ruling out the possibility of throwing your hat in the ring? GORE: I have no plans to run for president again. I don't intend to and I don't expect to. KOPPEL: But according to a recent CNN-Opinion Research Poll, when registered Democrats were asked who they wanted their candidate to be in '08, 14 percent chose Al Gore, putting him just behind Senators Clinton and Obama. Andrea Koppel, CNN, Capitol Hill. . (END VIDEO CLIP) Promo LLOYD: If you want to learn more about greenhouse gases and the role that some people believe they play in the changing our climate, we've got a learning activity that's right up your alley. Check it out at CNN.com/EDUCATION. Shoutout CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS: Time for the Shoutout! Where is the headquarters of the United Nations located? If you think you know it, shout it out! Is it: A) New York, B) Paris, C) Geneva or D) London? You've got three seconds -- GO! The United Nations has an office in Geneva, Switzerland, but the headquarters is located in New York. That's your answer and that's your Shoutout! LLOYD: That New York headquarters is where Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran's president, is heading as his country prepares to ring in its New Year. Late last year, the U.N. imposed sanctions, or trade and financial restrictions, on Iran. Now it's talking about making them even tougher. The issue is Iran's nuclear program. The U.N. wants Iran to stop enriching uranium, which some nations think is a step toward producing nuclear weapons. But Iran says its nuclear program only has peaceful purposes. Aneesh Raman tells us how the looming U.N. vote is affecting the Iranian holiday festivities. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ANEESH RAMAN, CNN REPORTER: To understand just how big Norouz, New Years is in Iran, think of every holiday you know, combined into one. The past few days here, traffic has stretched as far as the eye can see. Shoppers are out in droves. At this moment the hopes of Iranians are high. I wish the New Year, Mohsen tells me, will be a year free from danger, free from war or sanctions. But expectations here are realistic, especially while waiting to see if they will confront another round of United Nations sanctions over its nuclear program. RAMAN: It is unlikely Iran will change its position, Amir told me. Iran wants peaceful nuclear technology and the Western countries cannot stop Iran from proceeding with that. So it came as no surprise that on Iranian TV, the New Year began right where the old one left off, with this message from President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD, IRANIAN PRESIDENT (Translated): Today, he said, our enemies are misusing international bodies that they have founded and have exclusive sovereignty over them. They want to stop the path of development of the Iranian nation. RAMAN: Norouz is easily the biggest holiday in Iran. The country will shut down for about two weeks, as people are out here for last minute shopping getting gifts for others and also getting symbols of the New Year. For example everyone is buying a goldfish that is the symbol of life. The goldfish end up here on tables like Iraj and Mina's. IRAJ: It's called 'Sofraya Hafzin' (sp?). RAMAN: For Norouz seven symbolic items are displayed in homes for 13 days. Iraj went to college in the U.S. before coming home to Iran. He knows the countries are at odds right now. But his hope for the New Year is that that will change. IRAJ: I've heard and talked to so many Iranian people. They regard American people very high and talk about Americans with good favor. There's no hatred. RAMAN: In the end was a simple refrain, heard over and over again from Iranians. That a New Year will bring a new chance for peace. Aneesh Raman, CNN, Tehran. (END VIDEO CLIP) Shoutout Extra Credit AZUZ: Time for a Shoutout Extra Credit! In mathematics, which of these represents a parabola? You know what to do! Is it: A, B, C or D? Here we go! Once again, "A" is the answer! If you said "D," you may consider majoring in English. That's your answer and that's your Shoutout! LLOYD: Your thoughts may float away from time to time when you're in school, but your whole body floating?! That's what a new Florida classroom offers. It uses parabolas to let students feel what it's like to do their science projects without being held back by gravity. David Waters of Central Florida News thirteen gives us a glimpse at a classroom in the clouds. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DAVID WATERS, CENTRAL FLORIDA NEWS: You never got to do this in high school. But now the state of Florida plans to fund this so called no gravity classroom every year. STEVE KOHLER, SPACE FLORIDA, CEO/PRESIDENT: We're putting together a microgravity educational research institute. PETER DIAMANDIS, ZERO-G CEO: We're here weightless over Florida with the best math and science teachers in professional development. When I was growing up, we didn't have classrooms in the sky like this. WATERS: The classroom is a modified 727 run by the company Zero-G. The pilot climbs steeply and dives to create about 30 seconds of weightlessness. The state of Florida plans to lease this plane about 20 times a year allowing students and teachers to learn in this weightless environment, a way that has never been open to students and teachers before. DIAMANDIS: Jump at me. Jump at me! WATERS: The first trip went to Florida space agency officials, teachers, and high school students from Jacksonville doing a science experiment. ADULT: Hold on hold on. Pump is running. STUDENT: .40 .30 WATERS: The students are watching how pumps perform in weightlessness versus on the ground, while hanging onto wires so they don't float away. The experiment is part of a system students hope to use to grow bone cells in weightlessness. They want to help astronauts by studying the bone loss space fliers experience on long term space trips. KEVIN SIMMONS, TEACHER: It's a thrill because as you know when we were younger, we just didn't have opportunities like this. So for our students to do weightless experiments, it's an incredible opportunity. PASSENGER: One more time! WATERS: Florida officials say it'll be far more than one more time. They plan to fly thousands of students in the state's new classroom in the sky. (END VIDEO CLIP) Before We Go LLOYD: Before we go, a cute and cuddly cub who's ready for his close up. The newest star at the Berlin Zoo is a fifteen-week old named Knut. He was one of the first polar bears born at the zoo in thirty-three years. Knut's been the fluffy center of a flurry of fascination, with his own TV show and photo shoot. And this weekend, a vet says Knut should be ready to meet his adoring public. Goodbye LLOYD: An event that certainly bears watching. Thanks for tuning in to CNN Student News. I'm Monica Lloyd. |
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