BMUFSD: Students Conduct An Experiment With Tomato Seeds

Press release from the Briarcliff Manor Union Free School District:

2024-06-07

Some seeds can be carried by the wind to different countries.

Briarcliff Middle School students got ahold of seeds that have traveled as far as outer space.

The school participated in the Tomatosphere Project, in which some tomato seeds traveled to space on the SpaceX CRS-23 Dragon and spent five weeks in the International Space Station.

“I saw this on a middle school science Facebook group and it was free, so I signed up,” said seventh grade science teacher Jessica Loprieno.

Students received seed packages labeled X and Y, with one package being the “space seeds” and the other being the “control” – natural, untreated seeds that did not leave Earth.

In this double-blind study, neither students nor teachers Ms. Loprieno and Bob Iovino knew which seeds are which.

Students planted the seeds in peat pots, keeping the two sets separate from each other, to see what would happen.

When the seeds began to germinate, students tallied the germinated ones in each group.

Students had multiple hypotheses about whether being in outer space would affect the germination.

“I think the seeds that were in space will have less germination because they spent time in zero gravity,” said Noel.

“That is an interesting observation,” Ms. Loprieno said. “Did you know that plants can actually respond to gravity? They have hormones that allow them to respond to gravity and to light. If you put a seed in soil, the stem will always grow upwards and the roots downwards because plants can sense gravity. It’s called gravitropism.”

“Maybe the space seeds will germinate at a higher rate than the earth ones because they have been exposed more, so that made them grow more,” suggested Avni.

“I don’t think there will be a change if the seeds are in space,” Lucy said. I don’t think it will make a difference.”

When all classes completed their tallies, the results were very close:

Out of 72 X seeds, 55 germinated and out of 72 Y seeds, 54 germinated.

Ms. Loprieno submitted the results online and found out that the Y seeds were the “space seeds.”

“Lucy was right, she said, “It did not make a difference, although in last year’s experiment, the “space seeds” germinated more.”

This press release was produced by the Briarcliff Manor Union Free School District. The views expressed here are the author’s own.