1. Goals The Effects of Microgravity & Light Wavelength on Plant Growth in the Ardulab Goals Hypothesis Materials Investigation Our Plan Importance BenefitsGoals Pic 8 th Grade 2013-2014 Duchesne Academy of the Sacred Heart Pic

2. The Effects of Microgravity & Light Wavelength on Plant Growth in the Ardulab

3. Hypothesis Pea shoots and broccoli shoots are going to be exposed to microgravity. The ArduLab will be separated into two sides with an opaque divider, one with 75% red LEDs and 25% blue LEDs and the other vice versa. The plants will most likely demonstrate the most growth on the side with the red super-bright LEDs. The red lights have the longest wavelength and is bent the least. It also moves the slowest, so the plant would be able to absorb the light more effectively.

4. Goals Our objective is to learn more about the effects of light wavelength and microgravity on plant growth through our research and experiment. Our final goal is for our research to help the advancement of plant growth and food production for long-duration space flight.

5. Investigation Our investigation is to discover which side of blue and red wavelengths will cause broccoli shoots and pea shoots to grow faster in a microgravity environment.

6. Importance Our experiment is important for the advancement of plant growth in space for long-duration space flight. The ISS is now a national laboratory, and the only location where it would be logistically possible to conduct this experiment.

7. Our Plan We will put 5 broccoli and 3 pea shoots on each side, separated by an ABS divider. The seeds will be placed in a phytoblend that should allow the plants to thrive without a watering system for the duration of the experiment (30 days). On both sides, the lights will be programmed to be on for 12 hours and off for the other 12 hours. On one side, there will 3 red LEDs and 1 blue LED. On the other side, there will be 1 red LED and 3 blue LEDs. We plan to measure the growth of the shoots with a grid system that is placed and set in 2- mm increments and a tiny camera that will take a picture every 12 hours. We will also be conducting a ground-based replica of this experiment at one of our student’s homes.

8. Materials 4 Red Super-bright LEDs 4 Blue Super-bright LEDs Wires Solder Resistors 2 Cameras 2 Small pieces of Lexan Polycarbonate 2 small pieces of mounting tape Opaque divider made of ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene) Krazyglue All Purpose 2- 50 mL plastic containers 90 mL of Phytoblend Agar w/nutrients

9. Benefits Our data will benefit people all over the world without adequate sunlight by giving them a different option for growing plants. This experiment will assist with crop production in greenhouses by informing people which lights would be the most beneficial in growing plants.

11. Red/Blue LED Grd Camera 1 Grd Camera 1 3.3V Red LEDS(1) PWM Blue LED(1) PWM Camera 1 RX TX Camera 2 TX RX Camera 2 3.3V Camera 2 Grd 1.5K 1.0K 1.5K Red LED(3) PWM Blue LED(3) PWM 100 330 120220