The classroom in cyberspace.

Byline: DOROTHY WALKER

FROM Russia's Mir space station to the world of cyberspace, Helen Sharman has always set the pace.

Now Britain's first astronaut is encouraging children to follow her scientific footsteps in a pioneering project on the Internet.

Helen, who spent eight days in space in 1991, is one of the scientists who uses the Net to chat to students as part of Schools Online. The project, funded by the Department of Trade and Industry, helps young scientists make sense of the World Wide Web.

Since September, pupils from 60 secondary schools have been using the Web to help in experiments from monitoring satellites to counting woodlice.

John Wardle, of the project's science team, says: `We are constantly searching the Web to find useful sources of information that we can point out to the children. This saves time and money for the schools.

`We also have an interactive lab where schools can do collaborative experiments. One of the problems with classroom experiments is that you get a small set of results, so it's difficult to draw conclusions.'

Projects include receiving pictures from a robotic telescope on the Yorkshire Moors that is controlled from the Internet.

And children were downloading pictures from the Galileo space probe as they appeared live on the Web - choosing the reports and pictures they needed rather than waiting to see them on television.

Wardle says: `We hope pupils will be able to contribute to real research, and we're discussing a project on bio-diversity with the Natural History Museum.

`Children can also find out what scientists are like and ask them questions to get a debate going. Helen is tremendously popular.'

Sharman says: `I love to present all aspects of science. My job in space was to do experiments and now I bring science to life for other people.'

The most popular question she is asked online is (inevitably): `How do you go to the loo in space?'

Anyone can visit the Schools Online Web site. But instead of just looking at information, schools are encouraged to publish their own material.

At Walthamstow School For Girls in north-east London, pupils have built their own home page to let other schools know what they are working on.

Bushra Mazhar, 15, who was responsible for the computer programming, says: `It took me two months to learn how to do it, and now it's really easy.'

Classmate Sophie Meves says:

`I use the Internet to get advice from teachers

and children in other schools who are working on the same investigations.'

Schools Online: Phone 01277 200587.

URL:http//sol.ultralab.anglia.ac.uk n Tim

Jackson - Internet Tim.Jackson@pobox.com

419 Seale St, Palo Alto, California 94301-3828 USA. Phone (415) 328 8470