The Effects of Microgravity on the Growth of Ryegrass Seeds Springfield Public Schools Florence M. Gaudineer Middle School Springfield, NJ

7th Grade Team From FMG Co-Principal Investigators: Co-Investigators: David Ares Jeremy Dash Daniel Munoz Co-Investigators: Timothy Burns Antonio Nacci Teacher Facilitator: Mrs. Alison Gillen, FMG Middle School

Research Question What We Know What are the effects of microgravity on the growth rate of Ryegrass seeds? In the absence of gravity, what direction will the roots and/or stems grow? What We Know Seed roots respond positively to gravity Stems respond negatively to gravity Ryegrass seeds will germinate in 5-12 days on Earth; will that be the same in microgravity? Concentrated salt solution can be a fixative to stop the growth of seeds.

Why This Is Important This is a good topic to experiment on because plants are such an important element in our ecosystem, and if we can understand how they grow, we can start to grow plants in space.

Salt Solution For a fixative, we used salt, as it triggers a hormone in the seeds which prevents it from growing. This discovery was made by José R. Dinenny, PhD Carnegie Institution for Science, Department of Plant Biology. We were able to communicate with him. He was able to tell us the salt concentration we should use. Seeds with salt solution Seeds without salt solution

Hypothesis If we send Ryegrass seeds up into microgravity and give them only water, then the grass seeds would grow the same, because water is a primary signal for the germination process.

The Fluid Mixing Enclosure The type of tube we are using is a Type 3 FME: Seeds In Growth Chamber Water Salt Solution

Materials The materials we are using in the experiment are cotton gauze, Ryegrass seeds, water, and concentrated salt solution. The cotton gauze in our growth chamber allows the seeds to stay in place. The salt will stop the growth of the seeds at the end of the experiment.

On The ISS Nine days before the seeds come back down to Earth the astronauts will release the water clamp, that will start the Ryegrass seeds growth. Then, five days after that, the astronauts will unclamp the concentrated salt solution into the seeds. That will stop their growth so that nothing changes on their journey home.

Expected Results When we performed the same experiment in the classroom, the seeds grew down towards the bottom of the tube. They also stayed very moist during the duration of the test. Since the seeds react positively to gravity, in microgravity we might see the roots possibly grow in many directions. We expect the growth of the seeds to be about the same length because water is the biggest factor of the germination process. We will also plan to see if the seeds remain the same color as the seeds here on Earth

Back Home While the experiment is underway in space, we will be performing the same experiment on Earth When the seeds come back, we will compare the seeds that were in space with the ones that stayed on Earth. We will compare them by: Color Mass Length of the grass/stem The length and direction of the root

Acknowledgements José R. Dinenny, PhD Carnegie Institution for Science, Department of Plant Biology- Technical Advisor Funding Sources: Springfield Public Schools CASIS (Center for The Advancement of Science in Space)- SSEP National Partner