5th grade ELO (Extended Learning Opportunities) students explored the question, “Can we plant crops on the moon?” Students worked in teams to choose a crop and design an experiment to test growing food in simulated lunar soil. This group of students choose to plant arugula, spinach, radishes, parsley, and bok choy, based on their research of plants that have relatively short growing seasons. Students then planted their seeds in mixtures of the lunar soil, potting soil, compost, and even coffee grounds. One group chose to add fertilizer while another chose to add some red worms to half their pots.
The Plant the Moon Challenge Jr. is a science competition meant to inspire students through real-world challenges. Team results could help scientists as they plan and carry out future experiments. And just maybe our research will one day help to feed astronauts on missions to the Moon or beyond! You can learn more about the competition at https://plantthemoon.com/jr/. Norway Intermediate had this opportunity because of an Iowa STEM Scale-Up award.