Mrs. McDonald's sixth grade life science class at Covenant Day School in Matthews, NC

We voted in our life science classes and came up with two good designs of the experiment and hoped we could enter both. Some of the experiment materials are the same. The following list will be used with both experiments:

1. one-meter cubed plexiglass box with a removable top
2. flexible plastic tubing to be placed in the soil, and the other end will be attached to a squeeze bottle to be filled with a premeasured amount of water
3. wheat seeds
4. one grow light with a power source
5. regular potting soil - enough to fill the containers and then 1 kg extra
6. computer to enter data
7. metric ruler to measure growth

Now I will explain the first experiment:

1. Obtain 5 small heart-shaped containers with a small hole at the top.
2. Fill the containers with the soil to the top.
3. Plant 2 wheat seeds in each container and water until the soil is moist to the touch.
4. Place them in the plexiglass box with the light on for 12 hours and off for 12 hours.
5. The seeds will then grow in space and be compared to those grown on earth.
6. Record the growth and water every day with the premeasured squeeze bottle.
7. The heart-shaped containers will allow the roots to grow in any and all directions.

The second idea our class had is the following:

1. Have a large pie tin made out of plastic. This should be approximately 25 cm in diameter.
2. Place the plastic pie tin on a turntable that can spin at about 33 rpms all the time.
3. Place 6 small peat pots with soil in them and 2 wheat seeds in each on the plastic pie tin. They should be placed on the side so the open tops of the peat pots are facing in toward the center of the turntable.
4. Place the 6 symmetrically even so the turntable will not be uneven.
5. Place 2 extra peat pots in the plastic box but not on the turntable as a control.
6. Place 2 grow lights on opposite sides of the turntable.
7. Record the growth daily as well as water them.
8. Compare them to plants grown on earth.