Shell helped in connecting schools around the world via World-Wings, in an exciting internet science project that followed the adventures of Polly Vacher in her attempt to circumnavigate the globe via the poles in a single engine Piper Dakota.

 

World-Wings is a special project based on Shell Education Services’ successful Nature-Net Programme in the UK, that promotes Science, Information Technology, Geography and Maths skills within Primary Schools. Twelve schools along Polly’s route were paired up with a school in the United Kingdom to provide a unique opportunity to compare and contrast environmental data.

When Polly visited one of the schools on her route, she helped the children, supported by Shell employees in that country, to enter data about their environment. At the same time Robert Farr, of Shell Education Services, worked with students at a UK partner school to enter similar details about their own environment.World-Wings linked 12 schools in the UK with schools around the world.

The children shared a wide range of environmental information, from the number of woodlice to the types of trees and local weather conditions.

Rob Farr said the programme won an enthusiastic response from students. “Children love looking at maps and anything to do with computers really inspires them, so the Nature-Net programme and the special World Wings project are fantastic. We were getting students who were enjoying the exercises so much that they didn’t want to stop at the end of the day.”