STEM: a voyage of discovery
The Science department of St Augustine’s Priory has been successful in their application to take part in a collaborative project between the Royal Horticultural Society and the UK Space Agency: ‘Rocket Science’, a national initiative to turn curious school pupils into space biologists!
The rocket seeds, which this time last year took off from Florida bound for the international space station formed part of British ESA astronaut Tim Peake’s six-month Principia mission. After several months on board the seeds were sent back to land safely in the Pacific Ocean, before a small portion were sent onward to Hillcrest Road.
The packaged space seeds were accompanied by identical seeds that had remained on earth. The purpose of the project is to allow pupils the opportunity to learn what the process of plant growth in space can tell us about life on earth and whether it might be possible for humans to sustain life in space through the production and farming of plant life.
Form III had a fascinating lesson preparing and planting the seeds as soon as they arrived, but as they say ‘patience is a virtue’. We have the opportunity to input our results into a national data collection, so watch this space…
Contributor: TFarmer
Categories: Senior Whole School
