Out of this world: Shropshire pupils sowing seeds from space
They are magic space seeds – and they are now being sown in very down-to-earth Shropshire soil.
Children at Worfield Endowed Primary School have managed to get their hands on a handful of seeds that have spent time on the International Space Station.
It is all part of an experiment in which schools are helping to discover if weightlessness has any impact on seeds and how they germinate.
Two kilos of seeds have been distributed to classrooms across the country, including the Malverns class at Worfield.
The Rocket Science project was launched by the Royal Horticultural Society Campaign for School Gardening and the UK Space Agency, and backed by astronaut Tim Peake, a former RAF Shawbury helicopter instructor who is currently spending six months orbiting earth.
Worfield has received 100 seeds from space, which they will grow alongside seeds that haven't been to space and measure the differences over seven weeks.
The children won't know which seed packet contains which seeds until all results have been collected by the RHS Campaign for School Gardening and analysed by professional biostatisticians.
The nationwide science experiment will enable the pupils to think more about how we could preserve human life on another planet in the future, what astronauts need to survive long-term missions in space and the difficulties surrounding growing fresh food in challenging climates.
Year two teacher Jan Bailey said that the school was delighted to be part in the Rocket Science experiment.
She said: "The children followed Tim Peake's launch with huge enthusiasm and also watched his live discussion with schoolchildren a few weeks ago.
"This experiment is a fantastic way of teaching them to think more scientifically and share their findings with the whole school.
"We are also going to team up with our Year 6 pupils to ensure that we follow the experiment carefully and record our results accurately".
Rocket Science is just one educational project from a programme developed by the UK Space Agency to celebrate British ESA astronaut Tim Peake's mission to the ISS and inspire young people to look into careers in science, technology, engineering and maths.
