Johnson Elementary

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NASA Student Science Design Team An
Extracurricular Activity

• Johnson Elementary
• Magnet for Science, Technology, Engineering and
  Math
• Grade Levels 5th and 6th

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Main Menu

• Science Design Team

OUR INVESTIGATION
ABOUT US
STANDARDS
Click Each to View
OUR VIRTUAL SYMPOSIUM WITH NASA
Exit
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About Us

The entire team was notified of a special
opportunity
The 2009 NASA Explorer School Student Symposium
Johnson Space Center
Houston, Texas
But only (2) can attend.
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About Us

Required a scientific investigation
Required a virtual presentation with NASA
engineers.
Required a lot of outside classroom work.
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Only (4) students accepted this challenge!
Onjalise 6th Grader
Aaliyah 6th Grader
Malik 5th Grader
Michael 5th Grader
But only (2) can attend.
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Only (4) students accepted this challenge!
Onjalise 6th Grader
Aaliyah 6th Grader
Malik 5th Grader
Michael 5th Grader
But only (2) can attend.
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And here we are

ready to compete at the virtual symposium.
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Conquest
Investigating Hydroponic Systems
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Mission
Our mission is to investigate plant growth in
hydroponic systems.
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Our Investigation
Preparation Steps
Project Description
Our Data and Conclusion
Citations and Resources
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Project Description
Content Area Science, Technology, Engineering,
and Math Project Groupings Teams of
2 Description of Product using Technology
Students are studying use of hydroponic systems
for future lunar habitats. Hydroponics is a a
technique of growing plants in nutrient enriched
water, without the use of soil. The students
decided they wanted to test which type of
simulated sunlight will be best for hydroponic
plants direct simulated sunlight versus
reflective simulated sunlight. They decided on a
hypothesis based on their knowledge of plant
growth and their need for sunlight. The team
then designed the simulated sunlight environment
with sunlight lamps and tested their hypothesis.
They obtained their data by recording and
charting the growth of the plants for 16 days and
stated their findings.
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Our Question
Will hydroponic plants grow better under direct
simulated sunlight or reflective simulated
sunlight?
Our Hypothesis
Hydroponic plants would grow better under direct
simulated sunlight because when the sunlight
beams down on plants they conduct photosynthesis.
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Preparation Steps
Making the hydroponic container
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Preparation Steps
Making the wick that is needed for transporting
water and nutrients
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Preparation Steps
Preparing the container for planting.
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Wick Hydroponic System
Potting Area
Perlite
Wick
Water w/ Nutrient
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Hydroponic Systemunder Direct Sunlight Lamp
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Hydroponic Systemunder Reflective Sunlight Lamp

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Our Data

Boys Table Graph
Girls Graph
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Our Data

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Direct Simulated Sunlight - Plant Growth
Day 2 - 4
Day 1
Day 5-8
Day 9 - 12
Day 14
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Reflective Simulated Sunlight - Plant Growth
Project 3
Day 1 - 5
Day 6 - 8
Project 7
Project 8
Day 9-11
Day 12-14
Project 9
Project 10
Project 11
Project 12
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Our Observations
The lettuce and radish plants grew much faster
and taller under direct simulated sunlight. The
spinach grew twice as tall under reflective
simulated sunlight. The pinto beans was unable
to grow under direct simulated sunlight, but grew
very well under reflective simulated sunlight.
Under the direct simulated sunlight the perlite
show evidence of
burning in the middle of the potting
area. Then
on Day 16 all the plants died under the
direct simulated
sunlight, while the reflective
simulated sunlight plants were
still living.
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Our Conclusion
From their observations, the students concluded
that all the plants would grow better under
reflective simulated sunlight oppose to direct
simulated sunlight, but at a slower
rate Students were concern with the validity of
their test due to the fact they were unable to
check their plants on their plants everyday due
to teachers absence and multiple field trips.
Therefore they want to repeat the investigation
to compare the data results to ensure validity of
their data.
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5th/6th Grade- Standards
Science Standards

5th Grade - Life Sciences

2 Plants and
animals have structures for respiration,
digestion, waste disposal, and
transport of materials. As a basis for
understanding this concept 2a Students know
plants use carbon dioxide (CO2) and energy from
sunlight to build molecules of sugar and release
oxygen. 6th Grade - (Ecology) Life Sciences 5
Organisms in ecosystems exchange energy and
nutrients among themselves and with the
environment. As a basis for understanding this
concept 5a Students know energy entering
ecosystems as sunlight is transferred by
producers into chemical energy through
photosynthesis and then from organism to organism
through food webs.
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Science Standards

6th Grade - Investigation and Experimentation 7
Scientific progress is made by asking meaningful
questions and conducting careful I nvestigations.
As a basis for understanding this concept and
addressing the content in the other three
strands, students should develop their own
questions and perform investigations. Students
will 7a. Develop a hypothesis. 7b. Select
and use appropriate tools and technology
(including calculators, computers, balances,
spring scales, microscopes, and binoculars) to
perform tests, collect data, and display data.
7c. Construct appropriate graphs from data and
develop qualitative statements about the
relationships between variables. 7d.
Communicate the steps and results from an
investigation in written reports and oral
presentations. 7e. Recognize whether evidence
is consistent with a proposed explanation.
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Our Virtual Symposium
Michael discusses how the perlite showed evidence
of burning under the direct simulated sunlight.
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Our Virtual Symposium
Aaliyah and Onjalise present their findings. They
discuss the importance of the astronauts having a
additional source of food.
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Our Virtual Symposium
A panel of NASA Engineers ask a variety of
questions to the student science team about their
hydroponic investigation.
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Our Virtual Symposium
The NASA Glenn Research Formal Educators
congratulate the Johnson Team on a superb
presentation.
Here the team stands with their teams
supervising teacher, Mrs. Reba Gordon Matthews.
Mrs. Matthews is the schools NASA Explorer Team
Leader.
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Why should we study Hydroponics?
For future missions and possible lunar
settlements. Will you be there?
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Technology Resources

• Promethean Board
• Tanburg
• VideoConference Unit
• Epson Projector
• RedCat Amplifier
• Teacher Laptop
• Computer Lab Computers

• Classroom Network Printer
• NASA Curriculum / Websites
• Epson Poster Maker Printer
• Flashdrive
• BrainPop Subscription
• Digital Camera
• Rolling Computer Tables

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Our New Words
Hydroponic Perlite Simulated Symposium Virtu
al Videoconference
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Citations
Dictionary.com - http//dictionary.reference.com/
FactMonster Dictionary - http//dictionary.factmo
nster.com Hydropnics Experiments for Kids -
http//www.hydroponics101.com/sw63175.asp Hydropon
ics - Space Settlement Relevance http//www.nas.na
sa.gov/About/Education/SpaceSettlement/teacher/les
sons/contributed/thomas/hydroponics/hydroponics.ht
ml KidsGardening.org - Exploring Classroom
Hydroponics http//www.kidsgardening.com/hydroponi
csguide/hydro1-1-intro.asp NASA Quest - Activity
3 -Hydroponic Systems http//quest.nasa.gov/smore/
teachers/act3.html Perlite Plant Guide -
http//www.schundler.com/outdoor.htm
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And the winners are!
Michael 5th Grader
Malik 5th Grader
For the 2009 NASA Explorer School Student
Symposium NASA Johnson Space Center - Houston,
Texas April 28 May 2
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