Tomatosphere: Pairing Plant Lifecycles with Space Exploration

I prepped all the materials and tools to be ready for planting! Photo by Alison Travis

There are few things first graders love more than exploring nature. Children are always curious about how plants, animals, and people grow. The only science topic that may generate more widespread excitement is outer space. Our solar system unit is always my favorite to teach and I work hard to make it tangible rather than mystical. We have followed Alyssa Carson, also known as NASA Blueberry, the inspiring teen training now for the first Mars mission. I’ve brought in guest speakers working on spacecraft at local companies to present and answer questions. We enjoy Story Time from Space, videos of astronauts on the International Space Station reading themed picture books while floating in orbit.

First the Seed Foundation sends a package in the mail and also has many online resources! Photo by Alison Travis

I was thrilled to find the opportunity to combine lessons on the needs of living things and plant growth with real projects being done in outer space. It’s important to give students experiences that directly involve them in the big picture. What better way than handing them a tomato seed that has traveled off the surface of this planet? My class got to take part in a real, active science experiment along with millions of students across North America.

Tomatosphere is a program of the First the Seed Foundation. To study the viability of growing food in space, this non-profit distributes tomato seeds to teachers. Each class receives two sets of seeds. One packet has traveled to the ISS and back and the control packet has stayed earthbound.

Once you register, you receive the packets and detailed instructions in the mail. They guide you on planting, care, timing, data collection, and lesson ideas. The study is blind, so our class didn’t know which seeds had been under which conditions. Each student planted some seeds in small cups of dirt and we watered them and waited. Every morning, we recorded signs of germination by counting seedlings in each set. At the end of the study period, we logged our daily counts on the Tomatosphere website. Then, each student took a seedling home. Many of my students are lucky to have backyard gardens and hopefully most of the plants survived long enough to grow fruit the following summer!

Each student planted a few tiny tomato seeds into their cup of dirt. Photo by Alison Travis

Students were delighted that we had so many seedlings! I labeled each set with a different colored dot. Photo by Alison Travis

This experience will stick with my students for a long time. It was great practice in the scientific method. I may have inspired a little gardener or a future aerospace researcher. Now these kids know that they can participate in citizen science even at 6 years-old. Finally, they saw firsthand that beyond the classroom walls, all science disciplines can and should be interconnected.

I encourage all educators to participate in the next round of Tomatosphere in either the Fall or Spring!