2009 NES Symposium

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Johnson Elementary Magnet for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Grade Levels: 5th and 6th NASA Student Science Design Team An Extracurricular Activity

Main Menu:

Main Menu Science Design Team ABOUT US STANDARDS OUR INVESTIGATION OUR VIRTUAL SYMPOSIUM WITH NASA Exit Click Each to View

About Us::

About Us: The entire team was notified of a special opportunity : The 2009 NASA Explorer School Student Symposium Johnson Space Center Houston, Texas

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Required a scientific investigation Required a lot of outside classroom work. About Us: Required a virtual presentation with NASA engineers.

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Only (4) students accepted this challenge! Aaliyah 6th Grader Michael 5th Grader Onjalise 6th Grader Malik 5th Grader But……… only (2) can attend.

And here we are……:

And here we are…… ……ready to compete at the virtual symposium.

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Conquest Investigating Hydroponic Systems

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Mission Our mission is to investigate plant growth in hydroponic systems.

Our Investigation:

Project Description Preparation Steps Our Data and Conclusion Citations and Resources Our Investigation

Project Description:

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.

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Preparation Steps Making the hydroponic container

Preparation Steps:

Preparation Steps Making the wick that is needed for transporting water and nutrients

Preparation Steps:

Preparation Steps Preparing the container for planting.

Wick Hydroponic System:

Wick Hydroponic System Potting Area Perlite Wick Water w/ Nutrient

Hydroponic System under Direct Sunlight Lamp:

Hydroponic System under Direct Sunlight Lamp

Hydroponic System under Reflective Sunlight Lamp :

Hydroponic System under Reflective Sunlight Lamp

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Our Data Boys’ Table & Graph Girls’ Graph

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Our Data

Direct Simulated Sunlight - Plant Growth:

Direct Simulated Sunlight - Plant Growth Day 5-8 Day 1 Day 2 - 4 Day 9 - 12 Day 14

Reflective Simulated Sunlight - Plant Growth:

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

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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- Standards:

5th/6th Grade- Standards 5th 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 kno w plants use carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and energy from sunlight to build molecules of sugar and release oxygen. 6th Grade - (Ecology) Life Sciences 5: 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 Standards 6th 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 Symposium:

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

Our Virtual Symposium:

Our Virtual Symposium Aaliyah and Onjalise present their findings. They discuss the importance of the astronauts having a additional source of food.

Our Virtual Symposium:

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

Our Virtual Symposium:

Our 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:

Technology Resources Promethean Board Tanburg VideoConference 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

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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/thomas/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 5th Grader Malik 5th Grader For the 2009 NASA Explorer School Student Symposium NASA Johnson Space Center - Houston, Texas April 28 – May 2, 2009