[NAEP] Tomatosphere: Grow tomatoes from Space!

[Dawn Wiseman]

> Date: Tue, 03 Jan 2006 16:34:37 -0800
> Subject: Fwd: Tomatosphere
> To: smwillia at sd83.bc.ca,
> X-FC-Forwarded-From: "Robert Morrow" <robertmorrow at sympatico.ca>
> From: "Karen Morley" <morley_k at sd36.bc.ca>
>
>
> My name is Bob Morrow and I am the project manager for Tomatosphere. 
> We are in our fifth year and have 6000 classrooms registered across 
> Canada. IT IS FREE TO TEACHERS!!! It is curriculum-driven and involves 
> the germination of tomato seeds that have spent 19 months on the 
> International Space Station. Each class registered gets 40 of the 
> "space" seeds and 40 control group. As well as germination, there is 
> also a growth and vigour component for students above grade 6.
>
> I need your help to get this project known in British Columbia.
>
> I am attaching a "one-pager" in English and French which could be 
> distributed electronically or placed on a web site.
>
> I can supply 1/2 page size postcards and folded posters for 
> distribution. If you need them in the next three weeks, please contact 
> Theresa Rondeau Vuk at the University of Guelph - 510-824-4120 
> extension 52909. Otherwise, I will send them to you when I get back to 
> my office on the 6th of February.
>
> Unfortunatley, I leave tonight for a month...but I will have e-mail 
> access.
>
>
> *Robert Morrow*
> *Project Manager, TOMATOSPHERE*
> *100 Pleasant Avenue*
> *Dundas, ON L9H 3T4*
> *(905) 627-3685* 



*What’s it all about?
*Space exploration, especially to other planets in the solar system will 
require life support systems for the crews for long period of time - 
food, water, oxygen and ways to deal with the build-up of carbon 
dioxide. Green plants - like tomatoes - provide the life support needs 
for humans in space. The Tomatosphere Project involves school classrooms 
in the research processes associated with growing plants in space and on 
extraterrestrial surfaces such as Mars. Schools can sign up now for the 
seeds have now returned from the ISS … and will be distributed in the 
spring of 2006.


*What do the students do?
*Students germinate tomato seeds provided by the project in March, 2006. 
This is a “blind test” - teachers and students will not know the origin 
of the two types of seeds involved until results are submitted. Students 
will also track the vigour of growth of the plants.

*What grades are involved?
*Tomatosphere is a curriculum-based project, using curriculum 
connections in grades 3 - 6 and 8 - 10. The focus areas include plants, 
plant growth, nutrition, space, energy, the environment, and the 
application of space-generated information for use on Earth.

*How much does it cost?
*The seeds are free - mailed in early March of 2006. The teacher’s guide 
can be downloaded from the official Tomatosphere web site *- 
www.tomatosphere.org <http://www.tomatosphere.org/>* The only costs 
involved are the peat pots for germination (less than $20).

*How are the seeds different?
*There are only two different types of seeds in 2006 – a control group 
and those that have spent 18 –20 months in space at the International 
Space Station; these seeds have been exposed low levels of gravity and 
the environment inside the ISS.

*How many seeds do I get?
*Each class will receive two packets of seeds matching the description 
above. Each packet will contain approximately 40 seeds.

*Where did these seeds come from?
*All the seeds have been provided by Heinz, one of the project sponsors 
- and are perfectly safe for germination, growth...and even for 
consumption of the tomatoes at the end of the experiment. Some classes 
made salsa with their tomatoes last year. The seeds are for plum 
tomatoes - Heinz variety H 9478 F1. These seeds are used widely in North 
America and also in other countries of the world such as Hungary, 
Portugal and Spain. Depending upon weather, a plant will produce fruit 
in between 85 and 105 days.
*
How long will the experiment take?
*Although the germination will take place over a few weeks, the actual 
planting time is short; peat pots do need watering and regular 
inspection during the germination period. If teachers and students wish 
to transplant the germinated tomato plants, this will require additional 
time.

*What do I need to get started?
*All information about the experiment, background information, student 
activities, downloadable visual materials, even videos - are available 
from the project web site.

*How will my classroom data be used?*
Classroom data is logged onto the web site following the completion of 
the experiment. Teachers will also have access to the results of other 
classrooms across Canada (and around the world) for comparison. Teachers 
will also have access to information from the University of Guelph which 
will be conducting parallel experiments.

*What do I do if I need help?
*Teachers can get assistance from the Project Manager. However, most 
situations can be resolved using the web site and the FAQs.

*Who are the Tomatosphere sponsors?
*
H.J. Heinz, Canada H.J. Heinz Foundation Canadian Space Agency 
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
University of Guelph CRESTech Natural Science and Engineering Council of 
Canada

*How do I get involved?
*All of the Tomatosphere activities focus on the web site - 
*www.tomatosphere.org* <http://www.tomatosphere.org/>*;* teachers 
register on-line, download the experiment, student activities and 
background information ... and input their experiment results on the web 
site. Since this is an automated web site, it is important to input 
information - school, address, postal code, e-mail address - carefully. 
For example, the information in the address portion will become the 
mailing label for the seeds.

Steve Williams
smwillia at sd83.bc.ca
Salmon Arm Secondary
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