“Will microgravity affect the growth/germination of lettuce seeds?”

FishHawk Creek Elementary-Randall Middle School, Hillsborough County Public School Grade Level: 5-6 Title: Will Microgravity Affect The Growth/Germination Of Lettuce Seeds? Type of Experiment: Flight Experiment, Mission 5 to ISS Co-Principal Investigators: Miranda Corbo, Srinidhi Raghavan and Isabelle Utsler Teacher Facilitator: Mary Vaughn Abstract: The purpose of the experiment is to observe the effect of microgravity on the growth/germination of lettuce seeds. Our experiment will measure the rate of the germination of lettuce seeds. Seed germination is so critical and not very well understood in microgravity. Lettuce and other vegetables will expand the in-orbit food capabilities and will allow for astronauts to have fresh food.

Our E.Q./ Project Timeline Will microgravity affect the growth/germination rate of lettuce seeds? Timeline (From 5 th to 6 th grade) (September 2013) The team came together and brainstormed an idea. (November 2013) The team perfects and proposes their project idea. (December 2013) The team finds out that their project was selected. (January- June 2014) The team perfects and works on Earth based data. (July 2014) Project goes up to the ISS. (October 2014) Project returns back to Earth and we collected data.

Ground Truth Data January 2014: Lettuce seeds grown Early: 4/10 lettuce seeds germinated Late: 6/10 lettuce seeds germinated Mold Percentage: 75%

Space Data October 2014: Lettuce seeds grown Early: 3/10 lettuce seeds germinated Late: 1/10 lettuce seeds germinated Mold Percentage: 100%

In Conclusion… In conclusion, micro-gravity reduces the growth/germination rate of lettuce seeds. What we found interesting, is that micro-gravity increases the mold growth rate by 25%.

Pictures Thanks to our sponsors: SunCoast Credit Union and the Florida Space Consortium. Thank You to SSEP, NanoRacks and Hillsborough County Schools for their support. Much appreciation to our families who made it all possible.