Growing Beyond Earth - NASA Program
Sunbury College has been selected to participate in the Growing Beyond Earth Program for 2024 in partnership with NASA, La Trobe University, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria and Fairchild Tropical Botanic Gardens.
This will be the second year the program has been launched in Australia, transitioning to only 6 schools in Victoria and 1 in Tasmania now joining over 400 international schools. The program focuses on the exploration of advancing plant growth in space for the NASA International Space Station.
A small group of Year 9 students have started to undertake experiments that will help contribute this data to the NASA research program. Along with the experiments, students also participated in a one-day program at La Trobe University to investigate the following workshops. Our first trial is well underway and students have started to investigate the plant growth in the space chamber for Dwarf Green Kale.
Workshop 1 - Which plant to grow on a space farm?
Students consider the variety of ways plants can benefit humans. They explore and experience different characteristics for plants in space and consider and judge what they think is important for space crops. They select their ideal plant traits and space crops and justify their choices. Does this have implications for Earth too?
Workshop 2 - What are the best conditions to grow Plants in Space?
Students model the variables required for plant growth and survival, creating a closed loop growth environment. They consider the best ways to encourage a species to show an ideal trait and how to measure it- in essence students design an experiment to find the optimal conditions. How is this approach relevant and useful for farming on Earth?
Workshop 3 - Designing 100% edible plant in Space
Students examine and analyse experimental evidence to discover nutrient location and density in foods. They explore the concept of using synthetic biology to change the traits of plants to produce more/ different locations of nutrients in Plants for Space. Students design their idea Space crop. How might it feel to eat the product of synthetic biology?
Workshop 4 - Researching the effect of Microgravity
Students hear about the experiments exploring the effects of microgravity. They will see the research tools and meet the experts and their research facilities. They will follow the research journey of an astrobiologist the questions, experiments and findings to consider the implications of living things to survive and thrive in space. What would it take to live in microgravity?
