Challenge 6—Growing Beyond Earth YOUR CHALLENGE: Over the past two years of the NASA-partnered Growing Beyond Earth (GBE) project, students have tested over 90 varieties of edible plants for germination rates, growth habits and edible biomass production. After confirming that our experimental growth chamber produced similar results to the International Space Station (ISS) Vegetable Production System (Veggie), students helped NASA choose the “cut and come again” procedure to use on the ISS as a method to continuously provide fresh produce. This year, students will use Fairchild’s GBE Growth Chamber to test how changes in photoperiod affects the growth rate of leafy greens over a 28-day trial. Based on your results from that trial, propose a new research experiment analyzing how modifying a single variable (ex. light, growth media, plant variety, or harvesting procedures) affects edible biomass. After submitting your proposal to Fairchild for review, conduct a second trial derived from your proposal, analyze your data, and present your findings to NASA scientists at the Growing Beyond Earth Student Research Symposium.

Thursday, August 31, 2017  Memorandum of Understanding ENTRY SUBMISSION: Wednesday, November 15, 2017 Electronically submit the following:  Challenge 6 Entry Form  Data Sheet Email the following to [email protected]:  Draft Proposal (Maximum 1pg, includes: testable hypothesis and brief explanation of methods)

Wednesday, March 14, 2018 Delivered to Fairchild in person or via certified mail:  Research Poster Email or electronically submit the following to [email protected]:  Trial 2 raw data sheets

REQUIRED TEACHER WORKSHOP: RESCHEDULED Saturday, September 30, 2017 9:00 am to 4:00 pm Visit teacher workshops webpage for more information and to register.

EVENT DATE: Saturday, April 21, 2018

10:00 am to 2:00 pm GBE Student Research Symposium

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DATA REQUIREMENTS: Data entries updated weekly on provided Google data sheets (Trial 1) All appropriate data fields complete and valid. Any irregularities or empty fields accompanied by an explanation Weekly student-created, scientifically-relevant tweets including the school name, @GrowBeyondEarth, and descriptions of any photographs, illustrations, or graphs On-time data entry submission (late entries may not receive points)

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RESEARCH POSTER REQUIREMENTS: Research poster must be 48” x 36” Photographs/illustrations/graphs must include captions Descriptive titles, student’s name and school name clearly printed on entry Research poster must include abstract, introduction, materials and methods, results, discussion, conclusion, and at least 3 references Research poster must follow HS research poster template On-time entry submission (late entries may not receive points)

 

 For more detailed information, please visit https://sites.google.com/site/hsfairchildchalenge/challenge‐6