Johnson Elementary Magnet for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math

Grade Levels: 5th and 6th

NASA Student Science Design TeamAn Extracurricular Activity

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Science Design Team

ABOUTUS STANDARDS

OURINVESTIGATION

OURVIRTUAL SYMPOSIUM

WITH NASA

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About Us:

The entire team was notified of a special opportunity:

The 2009 NASA Explorer School Student Symposium Johnson Space Center

Houston, Texas

Required a scientific investigation

Required a lot of outside classroom work.

About Us:

Required a virtual presentation with NASA engineers.

Only (4) students accepted this challenge!

Aaliyah

6th GraderMichael

5th Grader

Onjalise

6th GraderMalik

5th Grader

But……… only (2) can attend.

And here we are……

……ready to compete at the virtual symposium.

Conquest

Investigating Hydroponic Systems

Mission

Our mission is to investigate plant growth in hydroponic systems.

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ProjectDescription

Preparation Steps

Our Dataand

Conclusion

Citationsand

Resources

Our Investigation

Content Area: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math

Project Groupings: Teams of 2

Description of Product using Technology: Students are studying use of hydroponic systems for future lunar habitats. Hydroponics is a a technique of growing plants in nutrient enriched water, without the use of soil.

The students decided they wanted to test which type of simulated sunlight will be best for hydroponic plants: direct simulated sunlight versus reflective simulated sunlight. They decided on a hypothesis based on their knowledge of plant growth and their need for sunlight. The team then designed the simulated sunlight environment with sunlight lamps and tested their hypothesis. They obtained their data by recording and charting the growth of the plants for 16 days and stated their findings.

Project Description

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Our Question

Will hydroponic plants grow better under direct simulated sunlight or reflective simulated sunlight?

Our Hypothesis

Hydroponic plants would grow better under direct simulated sunlight because when the sunlight beams down on plants they conduct photosynthesis.

Preparation Steps

Making the hydroponic container

Preparation Steps

Making the wick that is needed for transporting water and nutrients

Preparation Steps

Preparing the container for planting.

Wick Hydroponic System

Potting Area

Perlite

Wick

Water w/ Nutrient

Hydroponic System under

Direct Sunlight Lamp

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Hydroponic System under

Reflective Sunlight Lamp

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Our Data

Boys’

Table & Graph

Girls’ Graph

Our Data

Direct Simulated Sunlight - Plant Growth

Day 5-8

Day 1Day 2 - 4

Day 9 - 12 Day 14

Reflective Simulated Sunlight - Plant Growth

Project 9

Day 6 - 8

Project 3

Day 1 - 5

Project 7 Project 8

Project 10 Project 11 Project 12

Day 9-11

Day 12-14

Our Observations

The lettuce and radish plants grew much faster and taller under direct simulated sunlight. The spinach grew twice as tall under reflective simulated sunlight. The pinto beans was unable to grow under direct simulated sunlight, but grew very well under reflective simulated sunlight.

Under the direct simulated sunlight the perlite show evidence of burning in the middle of the potting area. Then on Day 16 all the plants died under the direct simulated sunlight, while the reflective simulated sunlight plants were still living.

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Our Conclusion

From their observations, the students concluded that all the plants would grow better under reflective simulated sunlight oppose to direct simulated sunlight, but at a slower rate

Students were concern with the validity of their test due to the fact they were unable to check their plants on their plants everyday due to teacher’s absence and multiple field trips. Therefore they want to repeat the investigation to compare the data results to ensure validity of their data.

5th/6th Grade- Standards5th Grade - Life Sciences

2: Plants and animals have structures for respiration, digestion, waste disposal, and transport of materials. As a basis for understanding this concept:

2a: Students know plants use carbon dioxide (CO2 ) and energy from sunlight to build molecules of sugar and release oxygen.

6th Grade - (Ecology) Life Sciences5: Organisms in ecosystems exchange energy and nutrients among themselves and with the environment. As a basis for understanding this concept:

5a: Students know energy entering ecosystems as sunlight is transferred by producers into chemical energy through photosynthesis and then from organism to organism through food webs.

Science Standards

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Science Standards6th Grade - Investigation and Experimentation

7: Scientific progress is made by asking meaningful questions and conducting careful I nvestigations. As a basis for understanding this concept and addressing the content in the other three strands, students should develop their own questions and perform investigations.

Students will:

7a. Develop a hypothesis.

7b. Select and use appropriate tools and technology (including calculators, computers, balances, spring scales, microscopes, and binoculars) to perform tests, collect data, and display data.

7c. Construct appropriate graphs from data and develop qualitative statements about the relationships between variables. 7d. Communicate the steps and results from an investigation in written reports and oral presentations.

7e. Recognize whether evidence is consistent with a proposed explanation.

Our Virtual SymposiumOur Virtual Symposium

Michael discusses how the perlite showed evidence of burning under the direct simulated sunlight.

Our Virtual SymposiumOur Virtual Symposium

Aaliyah and Onjalise present their findings.

They discuss the importance of the astronauts having a additional source of food.

Our Virtual SymposiumOur Virtual Symposium

A panel of NASA Engineers ask a variety of questions to the student science team about their hydroponic investigation.

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Our Virtual SymposiumOur Virtual Symposium

The NASA Glenn Research Formal Educators congratulate the Johnson Team on a superb presentation.

Here the team stands with their team’s supervising teacher, Mrs. Reba Gordon Matthews.

Mrs. Matthews is the school’s NASA Explorer Team Leader.

Why should we study Hydroponics?Why should we study Hydroponics?

For future missions and possible lunar settlements.

Will you be there?

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Questions

Technology Resources

•Promethean Board

•TanburgVideoConference Unit

•Epson Projector

•RedCat Amplifier

•Teacher Laptop

•Computer Lab Computers

•Classroom Network Printer

•NASA Curriculum / Websites

•Epson Poster Maker Printer

•Flashdrive

•BrainPop Subscription

•Digital Camera

•Rolling Computer Tables

Hydroponic

Perlite

Simulated

Symposium

Virtual

Videoconference

Our New Words

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Dictionary.com - http://dictionary.reference.com/

FactMonster Dictionary - http://dictionary.factmonster.com

Hydropnics Experiments for Kids - http://www.hydroponics101.com/sw63175.asp

Hydroponics - Space Settlement Relevance

http://www.nas.nasa.gov/About/Education/SpaceSettlement/teacher/lessons/contributed/t homas/hydroponics/hydroponics.html

KidsGardening.org - Exploring Classroom Hydroponics

http://www.kidsgardening.com/hydroponicsguide/hydro1-1-intro.asp

NASA Quest - Activity 3 -Hydroponic Systems

http://quest.nasa.gov/smore/teachers/act3.html

Perlite Plant Guide - http://www.schundler.com/outdoor.htm

Citations

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And the winners are………!

Michael Jones

5th GraderMalik Gordon

5th Grader

For the

2009 NASA Explorer School Student Symposium

NASA Johnson Space Center - Houston, Texas

April 28 – May 2, 2009

The 2010 NASA Explorer School Symposium

Which one of you will be there?