Wednesday 7 October 2015

"Outredgeous!!!" * (Part 1)

*("Outredgeous" is the name for the variety of red romaine "rocket" lettuce used for the experiment)

Hello!
We have recently made an application to take part in Rocket Science. I am delighted to inform you that our application has been successful!
Tim Peake, a British astronaut is visiting the international space station.  As part of his mission he has taken 2kg of Rocket Lettuce seeds with him.  On their return to Earth, our class will be taking part in an experiment to see how their time in space may have affected them.

 When will we get the seeds?

The seeds will be sent out next year after the Easter holidays (as long as they make it back!). We will receive one Rocket Science folder for our school containing a step by step illustrated guide to the experiment, a wallchart for us to record our results and share them with our school and community, two packs of seeds (one containing seeds that have been to space, one with seeds that have remained on earth), a door sticker and individual stickers for the children.

 While we’re waiting…

-       There are some websites you may wish to explore, one is the new Principia website created by the UK Space Agency and European Space Agency (ESA): https://principia.org.uk/activity/rocketscience/and on the ESERO (European Space Education Resource Office) website: http://www.nationalstemcentre.org.uk/timpeake.  There are a variety of activities to celebrate British ESA astronaut Tim Peake’s mission to the ISS.

-       The seeds are currently on board the International Space Station (ISS) and will stay there until March. You can track the ISS online here http://spotthestation.nasa.gov/sightings/#.VgLAf8tVhBc and wave at them as it flies over!  I believe there will be a sighting for 1 minute tonight, 7th October at 8.25pm 10o above SSW, a slightly longer sighting of 4 mins on the 10th October: 7.23pm 10o above SSW.  Good luck with that!

-       Add to the excitement by watching this video of the rocket launch that delivered our seeds to the ISS:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9R7-gWKZZsg We have had a sneaky peek already but would definitely enjoy watching it again.

 Kind regards,

 Sarah Evans

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