YOUR CHALLENGE: Humans have never been more determined to explore the universe, however reaching and settling new planets is still an incredible challenge with several hurdles to overcome. One of the biggest challenges will be providing fresh produce for astronauts during long distance space travel. For the past 5 years, your research has brought NASA closer to solving that problem and has supported some of the important components of growing plants in space. For the Spring 2021 Trial, students selected one of the three variables, fertilizer, photoperiod, or light spectrum, to test how they affect plant growth. Downloadable PDF
PARTICIPATION REQUIREMENTS:
- Teachers must register to attend a mandatory workshop in January.
- Students must submit data and research presentation for complete entry submission.
SPRING 2021 DATA & RESEARCH PRESENTATION ENTRY DUE: Wednesday, April 7, 2021 by 5:00 pm (EDT)
The following items are due electronically:
| ✓ Data Requirements: |
| | Weekly student-created, scientifically-relevant tweets including name, @GrowBeyondEarth and descriptions of any photographs, illustrations or graphs |
| | All appropriate data fields complete and valid. Any irregularities or empty fields accompanied by an explanation |
| | Data entries updated weekly on provided Google data sheets |
| ✓ Research Presentation Requirements: |
| | Opening slide includes descriptive title, student’s name and school name clearly |
| | Opening slide includes descriptive title, student’s name and school name clearly |
| | Presentation is 5 slides maximum (excluding opening slide and references) |
| | Presentation must include the following: introduction, materials and methods, results, discussion, conclusion and at least 3 references) |
| | Bibliography must cite at least 3 sources, follows MLA or APA format |
REQUIRED VIRTUAL TEACHER WORKSHOP DATE: Saturday, January 9 2021 from 9:00 am – 12:00 pm EST OR Wednesday, January 13, 2021 from 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm EST
Scientists from NASA will conduct this workshop to introduce their research and the problems they try to solve for future space missions. During this time teachers will learn the Spring 2021 research protocols, and how to receive materials. Registration for this workshop closed on December 16. Please contact GBE@fairchildgarden.org any questions.
CHAT WITH A SCIENTIST: We will be hosting an OPTIONAL online chat with NASA scientists about the Growing Beyond Earth project. Teachers participating in GBE will receive an invitation a week before each chat with instructions on how to participate. See below for a list of scheduled dates and recordings:
Thursday 10/22 3:00 pm EST
Thursday 11/19 4:00 pm EST
Thursday 1/21 4:00 pm EST
Thursday 2/25 4:00 pm EST
Thursday 3/18 4:00 pm EDT
Thursday 4/15 4:00 pm EDT
GROWING BEYOND EARTH STUDENT RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM DATE: Saturday, April 17, 2021 from 12:00 pm to 3:00 pm (EDT)
Schools that participated in the Spring 2021 Trail will be able to present their results to NASA Scientists. This event is open to open to friends and family. Registration is now open!
EVALUATION CRITERIA:
For more information on how your submission will be evaluated, see Symposium Presentation Evaluation Sheet
CHALLENGE RESOURCES:
Welcome video from NASA
Fertilizer Treatment Protocols – NEW!
Photoperiod Treatment Protocols – NEW!
Light Spectrum Treatment Protocols – NEW!
Attachment 2 – Blue, white, red, green light
Attachment 2 – Red, white, blue, green light
Attachment 2 – White, blue, red light
Data Sheet Instructions
What to Tweet
Growth Chamber Assembly NEW!
2019-2020 GBE results NEW!
GBE SPRING 2021 WORKSHOP RECORDINGS:
Introduction – Dr. Carl Lewis and Amy Padolf (Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden)
Project Overview – Dr. Gioa Massa and Trent Smith (Kennedy Space Center)
Data Entry– Marion Litzinger (Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden)
Explanation of Protocols – Marion Litzinger (Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden)
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
GBE Twitter Feed
Food Production for Space Exploration NASA presentation
Growing Beyond Earth TEDx (video) and Space Station Live: Veggie 01 (video)
Publications – UPDATED!
Florikan Fertilizer: Collaboration with NASA (presentation)
2015-2020 GBE Seed List
How Plants Grow in Space
APA and MLA Citation Generator
