JUSTIN COOK The Roanoke Times

Narrows High School science teacher Anna Swenty demonstrates the Earth's rotation for her students.

A Giles County teacher will take flight Friday in a simulation of being weightless meant to foster a love of science in students.

Narrows High School teacher Anna Swenty is one of about 100 teachers nationwide to take part in the Northrop Grumman Weightless Flights of Discovery program. The one-day program is conducted in Washington, D.C.

The program puts groups of teachers in a special aircraft, called G-Force One, that flies in a series of arcs at an elevation of between 24,000 and 32,000 feet. The arcs simulate different levels of weightlessness, and the idea is that teachers will perform science experiments under the different conditions.

Swenty, an earth and space science teacher at the high school for five years, said she applied for the program after seeing a TV ad about it.

"Students can grasp earth science because the Earth is all around them," she said. "Space just blows their mind because there's movies and things, but you never can really understand it."

When Swenty returns from her flight, she hopes the students will be able to grasp the concept of space a little better. She and a small group of other participants will perform experiments testing the effects of the varied levels of gravity -- lunar gravity, martian gravity and zero gravity -- all while floating like a balloon.

They plan to test a substance's density using a density tube and by dropping weighted balls to test their velocity in the different gravities.

They're also going to try some fun experiments, such as trying to eat candies, she said.

"I'd really like this to just excite my students about science," she said. "I'm always trying to bring the real world of science to my classroom."

Swenty said that when she returns to Narrows she'll perform similar experiments in class and let students compare her results with theirs.

About one-quarter of Swenty's earth science class is about space.

Last week, she introduced the space unit to students, and she also has shown a video of the pilot's view of the arc flights. They already are fascinated, she said.

"There's this natural childlike fascination," Swenty said.

High school juniors and seniors are invited to participate in an essay-writing contest focused on the achievements of black leaders as part of Dominion's 2009 "Strong Men & Women: Excellence in Leadership" series.

Students are asked to choose a black leader the company has recognized in the past and write a 400-word essay about his or her accomplishments.

Each school is able to submit two entries.

Five winners in North Carolina and Virginia will receive notebook computers, and the schools will receive a $1,000 cash award.

Entries must be postmarked by Nov. 9.

Details about the contest can be found at www.dom.com.