Year One and Two pupils to grow seeds from space

Year One and Two pupils will grow the seeds this spring, following their safe return from the International Space Station (ISS). The seeds were flown to the ISS on the Soyuz 44S last September, and will arrive at Forest in the next few weeks.

The project has been launched by the RHS Campaign for School Gardening and the UK Space Agency to mark British astronaut Tim Peake’s mission to the ISS.

Forest Preparatory School will be one of thousands of schools across the country to receive a packet of seeds from space, which will grow alongside ordinary seeds.

Over seven weeks, the pupils will measure and look at the differences between the growing seeds, although organisers will not reveal which seeds have been to space until all the results have been collected and analysed by biostatisticians.

Year One teacher, Miss Hopkin, said: “We are delighted to be taking part in the Rocket Science experiment. It is a fantastic way for the pupils to learn more about space and growing fresh plants in challenging climates.”

“The Preparatory School have been closely following Tim Peake and took part in his interactive lesson earlier this year, so it’s another excellent way to mark his mission to space and hopefully it will inspire the pupils to think about how astronauts could survive on long term missions.”