| Seeds
II was developed by NASA Life Sciences Outreach for use in creating and
conducting plant biology science investigations that utilize the scientific
method. This is the same process that scientists use to design a
ground-based or a space flight-based investigation.
Students
in ISD's High School science classes are currently involved in designing
and carrying out experiments with three different kinds of tomato seeds
that were given to us by NASA Life Sciences. These seeds are all
from tomato plants of the same species, Rutgers
California Supreme. One of the most
popular of all main crop varieties, these tomatoes are open-pollinated
(self-pollinated by the wind) with heavy yields of large fruit. The
average number of days from seed to mature fruit is 74. The seeds
were identically prepared and then exposed to different treatments during
a nine-day period, from September 25 through October 6, 1997. The
Park Seed Company assisted in the preparation, storage, and packaging of
the tomato seeds.
One
set of seeds was flown on board the space shuttle Atlantis. A second
set of seeds was taken on board the Scott Carpenter Analog Station 30 feet
below the ocean's surface in Key Largo, Florida. This is the underwater
laboratory that ISD students went scuba diving near during the ChallengeProject.
The third set, the control seeds, were kept in a dry canister at the Park
Seed Company, in Greenwood, South Carolina. |
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Seeds
II Project, An Adventure in Scientific Inquiry 
