ASGSB 1998 Annual Meeting Abstracts

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CREATING A SOIL ALTERNATIVE FROM CLASSROOM MATERIALS: A PROJECT DESIGN.   B. Weber¹ and M. Lewandowski². ¹ Nebraska Wesleyan University, Lincoln, NE. ² Dynamac Corporation, DYN-3, Kennedy Space Center, FL.

With the technology of space flight becoming more advanced each day and the prospect of long duration missions becoming more of a reality, measures should be taken to inform the public, primarily children, of how the space program is reaching a new era of exploration. The primary goals of this project were to design, carry out and inform grade school students of the various recycling and waste recovery methods that might someday be implemented for use in

A physical experiment was carried out using different materials found only in a classroom to grow Raphanus sativus, radishes. Many different types of organic compounds were used from leftover lunch scraps for nutrients and base materials such as paper and rocks were used to create a soil- like texture. Out of the five different organic materials used, two of them showed plant growth. The plants were tested against a soil coltrol for total height and weight. After the materials had been tested and suitable growth candidates were chosen all of the information needed to perform the experiment was written up in a project booklet to be used for further outreach project in elementary classrooms. (Supported by the NASA Space Life Sciences Training Program)

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