Wichita ? Fifth-graders at a Wichita elementary school are practicing questions and shaking off nerves as they prepare to become the first students in Kansas to talk to crew members at the International Space Station.

One of their teachers, Terry Manning, says rarely have they been so quiet.

To Trinh Le walked slowly to the front of the class at Anderson Elementary School last week, looked bashfully into a video camera and whispered her question: “What kinds of experiments do you do in the lab?”

On Wednesday, the students will talk to the astronauts for real as they are scheduled to get about 20 minutes to talk the crew of Expedition 16 as part of a deal between NASA and Exploration Place in Wichita.

It’s an honor, Manning told them during a practice run-through at school.

“You need to know that you’re going to be in front of hundreds of people,” she said. “You’ll be on the news. … It’s an honor for you, and for us. But remember, it’s also an honor for them to get to talk to you.”

The chat is scheduled for 10:25 a.m. at Exploration Place’s Cyberdome Theater.

The Anderson fifth-graders were chosen in part because they participated in the five-week Starbase program at McConnell Air Force Base, learning about math and science, touring aircraft, building model space stations and launching homemade rockets.

During the downlink, the Wichita fifth-graders, along with members of Wichita State University’s Society of Women Engineers chapter, will speak live with the space station’s astronauts and cosmonauts.

During the past several weeks, Manning’s students have worked with NASA and Exploration Place officials to develop their list of questions. Twenty-two students were chosen to ask the questions, which include such things as “What makes your missions exciting for you?” and “Do tears float?”

After the practice session last week the students talked about their excitement leading up to the event.

“I’m shaking,” said India Wilson.