Our tomato seeds are starting to grow and we have seen the number of germinated seeds go from 0 to 26 in only 5 days! Based on the results we've seen so far, students are already making predictions about what group of tomatoes represents the control group and the treated group of seeds. We can't wait to see how many new seeds will germinate tomorrow!
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Thursday, October 29
We were busy planting tomato seeds today! Check out the main blog page for some great pictures!
Curious about what Tomatosphere is all about?
Read on below:
MISSION: TOMATOSPHERE 15/16
This year, the Grade 6 French Immersion students at École Golden Gate
are participating in the Tomatosphere Project; an educational outreach program
involving more than 14 000 classrooms across Canada and The United States. The
project involves conducting an experiment to investigate the effects of the
space environment on the growth of food that will inevitably be one the
contributing factors in pursuing long-term human space travel.
As part of the ‘blind test,’ students each planted two tomato seeds –
one from a control group and another from a set of seeds that had been exposed
to a simulation of the Mars atmosphere. The students then placed their peat
pots in mini-greenhouses (seedling trays with humidity covers), away from
direct sunlight and cold-air drafts in order to provide ideal growing
conditions.
Over the next month, students will continue making daily observations,
taking note of the date, time, classroom temperature and number of germinated
seeds appearing daily and will learn how to represent their findings using
diagrams, data tables and graphs. Once all of the seeds have germinated and the
class results have been compiled and submitted to the Tomatosphere Project, the
students will then find out the treatment associated with each group of tomato
seeds, allowing them to accept or reject the hypotheses they made prior to
beginning their Tomatosphere Mission.
Participation in this month-long experiment will not only help
Canadian scientists address the question of how we supply space exploration
missions with life support requirements, it may also inspire students to pursue
studies in Science and Technology as our space scientists and Mars explorers of
the future. Tomatoes, anyone?
(Looking for more info? Visit www.tomatosphere.org to get your fill).
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Get Ready! We are about to start an experiment with results that will be 'out of this world!'
Here are the anticipated learning goals for our Tomatosphere experiment:
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