Students from Talley Middle School in Wilmington, Delaware, participate in a live conference call with scientists working at hydrothermal vent sites over a mile deep on the Pacific Ocean floor.

A special highlight of Extreme 2004: Exploring the Deep Frontier is the “Phone Call to the Deep.” From more than 760 registered schools, 48 were selected to participate in this special feature, which links students in classrooms across the United States with scientists working in the deep-sea submersible Alvin on the Pacific Ocean floor.

In a total of four calls, each involving 12 different schools on the dates listed at left, classrooms will be connected by AT&T Teleconference Services first with a correspondent on the R/V Atlantis, who will answer a series of questions about life aboard ship. Then the call will be transferred down to the seafloor, where each classroom may ask questions of the scientists working live in the sub at a depth of more than a mile!