Year 10 students studying Horticulture are taking part in a RHS campaign for School Gardening which has given them the opportunity to plant seeds from outer space.
The Royal Horticultural Society Science Team is working with the European Space Agency (ESA) and together they organised two kilograms of rocket seeds to take off from Florida and land at the International Space Station as part of British astronaut Tim Peake’s six month Principia mission.
Having spent several months on board the seeds have now return to earth and a batch have been delivered to Carr Hill High School. The seeds have been packaged with identical seeds which have been left on earth and students now have the opportunity to compare the seeds as they grow. Half the seeds are red and half are black and students have planted and labelled them but do not know whether it is the red or black seeds which have been in space.
The seeds have been potted this week and students will be documenting their results on a national database. These results will be compared with around half a million UK pupils from other schools who are also taking part in the project.
Horticultural teacher Ms Ashton said: “The project is designed to inspire students to think scientifically and help them to realise the potential careers paths in Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths and Horticulture. We look forward to tracking the results of this project over the coming weeks and comparing our findings with other schools from all over the country.”
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