Gallery: Rocket Science (Art & Design / Horticulture)

Art & Design / Horticulture Cross-curricula Project - Space Seed Science Experiment

On 2nd September 2015, two kilograms of rocket seed travelled to the International Space Station (ISS). The seeds have been stored in microgravity by Tim Peake before their return to Earth in the spring of 2016.

All schools’ who participated in this experiment received one red packet and one blue packet of rocket seeds each containing a minimum of 100 seeds. One contained seeds that travelled to space and the other contained seeds that have remained here on Earth. We were not told which seeds came from space so there was no bias. The students sowed and grew the seeds and measured and recorded similarities or differences in plant growth between the two seed packets on the Measurement Chart.

At the end of the experiment we entered the results in the national database where the findings were analysed. We were invited to make a prediction based on the evidence we gathered as to which packet contained the space seeds, red or blue. We thought the blue ones came from space as they were smaller and we thought radiation or microgravity may have had an impact on growth. We later found out that the blue seeds were indeed the ones on the space station! Though we have yet to find out what the predictions of the space station were.