Tomatosphere Project

[Toomanymatoes]

I thought this was interesting and wanted to share. Might be fun for those of you who are educators. I placed an order for seeds for my community garden group, hopefully we qualify.

The program has been around since 2001, but the first time I have heard about it.

http://tomatosphere.org/
https://www.issnationallab.org/stem/edu ... atosphere/

What Is Tomatosphere™?
Tomatosphere™ uses the excitement of space exploration to teach the skills and processes of scientific experimentation and inquiry. Students investigate the effects of the space environment on the growth of food that will inevitably support long-term human space travel.

These space-faring seeds will be distributed in 2017. The seeds were launched to the International Space Station (ISS) on board SpaceX’s Dragon on July 18, 2016 and docked with the ISS two days later.

First the Seed Foundation and the Centre for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), will be working together to send Heinzseed tomato seeds to the ISS and bringing them back to Earth for classroom use. New initiatives in tracking, germinating and growing tomatoes on the ISS will further enhance the Tomatosphere™; experience over the next few years.

[MissS]

What an interesting project for the kids. Not only are they learning about science but many of them are sowing their first seeds! We need more gardeners. So many kids haven't a clue where our food comes from or how to grow it. They want to save the planet but don't know how to feed themselves.