Tomorrow we will kick off our 2017-2018 GBE Challenge! Growing Beyond Earth (GBE) is one of the challenges offered by Fairchild Tropical Gardens that was developed in partnership with NASA.
It is an in-classroom botany experiment that is helping NASA grow plants aboard the International Space Station. This challenge focuses on real scientific research and its relevance to NASA's mission to deep space exploration. As it is right now, astronauts on the International Space Station yearn for fresh fruits and vegetables during their missions.
The 'mini botany lab' that we have in our classroom is analogous to the plant growing environment aboard the ISS. Fairchild and NASA have trained me to experiment with growing foods in this mini botany lab, and now I look forward to a new year of fresh students with whom to share this experience with. As the plants grow, students will take measurements and make qualitative data observations that will be shared with NASA scientists who will then use our data to develop protocols for future experiments.
This research has real world implications and our data is contributing to the humanity's #JourneytoMars. Looking forward to getting our first trial underway. Check out what plants we will be growing this trial: 2017-2018 Trial 1
P.S. #NASANEEDSYOU
