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What is a Nanolab?

A Nanolab is a small rectangular prism of various sizes that when placed in an EXPRESS Rack on the International Space Station it can be hooked up to a USB port that not only can power an experiment inside the Nanolab, but also the USB port can transfer data to scientists on Earth.

For this last Plants in Space Investigation Station, teams are going to design and fabricate a plant growth chamber in 1.5-unit Nanolab, which is 4 x 4 x 8 inches to grow seeds successfully in this confined area for space.

Please keep an electronic or paper notebook on your observations as well as your procedures so that your plant growth chamber can be reproducible by others.

The following slide will provide ideas for a template for this notebook.

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Procedure for Engineering Design of a Plant Growth Nanolab

Students’ names - Teacher name - School Name and location – Start Date

This is a template that can be altered as needed by the teams.

Define the Problem: What will it take to grow plants in Space? Why is this problem Important to NASA?
Research sites that allow the team to learn more about what plants need to grow on Earth and the Moon. Research should be started from day one and continue throughout the life of the project. The more you do research the more questions you will generate and the better your design will be.
Make a list of the following requirements from what you think is the most important requirement to least important requirement for growing plants in in Nanolab (4 x 4 x 8-inch square prism). Water, temperature, Lights, Fertilizer, Power, Camera, Weight, Size, Air circulation, cost, time schedule, soil or growth media, gravity etc.. This list is not in order! Please put it in the order of importance that your team decides.
Record the generated ideas during brainstorming. This is an important aspect that teaches the the value of respecting each others' ideas! Best projects use a combination of ideas from the students.
Identify the material that you will need and how you will obtain it. Links are important to include for material you purchase online since we want the plant growth chamber to be repeatable for others.
Collaborate on a final design for inside the Nanolab. Present this design as a drawing or a scale model made out of any material that you have readily available.
Test your design by growing plants in this small area. You can use the tomato plants from previous Investigation Stations or any plants that you wish.
Decide on what needs to be redesigned and communicate your findings as an oral or written presentation.

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How Astronauts Grow Plants in Space

By Intel presented by the Seeker

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIc51VuEPng

How Do You Grow Plants in Space?

By BBC News

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vv6ATRPUjrI

Plants In Space!

By Science Friday

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzKM_NiMLSA

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuwGvZ-eOrc

The Engineering Design Process: An Eggstronaut Mission

By Science Buddies

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The Engineering Design Process

Image Credit: created by Amy Cowen for Science Buddies / Science Buddies

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/engineering-design-process/engineering-design-process-steps

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The Hydrofuge goes to the International Space Station�

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6UARqycUfI

2014 Lakewood High School Hydrofuge Plant Growing System

By Jeffco Public Schools

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The Hydrofuge is a plant growth chamber that went to the International Space Station (ISS) in a Nanolab. The Hydrofuge was designed, fabricated and documented by students at Lakewood High School in Colorado with Matt Brown the instructor.

Picture of plants grown in the Hydrofuge on the ISS

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Thank you all so very much for working on these Investigation Stations. Growing plants from seeds on the Moon, Mars and beyond is a really challenging task. Your work on this exciting undertaking is sincerely appreciated.

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Kindergarten NGSS Science standards covered in this lesson.

K-LS1-1.Use observations to describe patterns of what plants and animals (including humans) need to survive.

K-ESS2-2. Construct an argument supported by evidence for how plants and animals (including humans) can change the environment to meet their needs.

K-ESS3-1.Use a model to represent the relationship between the needs of different plants and animals (including humans) and the places they live.

LS1.C: Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms All animals need food in order to live and grow. They obtain their food from plants or from other animals. Plants need water and light to live and grow. (K-LS1-1) ESS2.E: Biogeology Plants and animals can change their environment. (K-ESS2-2)

ESS3.A: Natural Resources Living things need water, air, and resources from the land, and they live in places that have the things they need. Humans use natural resources for everything they do. (K-ESS3-1)ESS3.C: Human Impacts on Earth Systems Things that people do to live comfortably can affect the world around them. But they can make choices that reduce their impacts on the land, water, air, and other living things. (K-ESS3-3)ETS1.B: Developing Possible Solutions Designs can be conveyed through sketches, drawings, or physical models. These representations are useful in communicating ideas for a problem’s solutions to other people.

1st Grade NGSS Science standards covered in this lesson

1-LS1-1.Use materials to design a solution to a human problem by mimicking how plants and/or animals use their external parts to help them survive, grow, and meet their needs.*

1-LS3-1.Make observations to construct an evidence-based account that young plants and animals are like, but not exactly like, their parents.

LS1.A: Structure and Function. All organisms have external parts. Different animals use their body parts in different ways to see, hear, grasp objects, protect themselves, move from place to place, and seek, find, and take in food, water and air. Plants also have different parts (roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits) that help them survive and grow. (1-LS1-1)

LS1.B: Growth and Development of Organisms. Adult plants and animals can have young. In many kinds of animals, parents and the offspring themselves engage in behaviors that help the offspring to survive. (1-LS1-2)

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2nd grade NGSS Science standards covered in this lesson.

2-LS2-1.Plan and conduct an investigation to determine if plants need sunlight and water to grow.

2-LS2-2.Develop a simple model that mimics the function of an animal in dispersing seeds or pollinating plants.*

2-LS4-1.Make observations of plants and animals to compare the diversity of life in different habitats.

LS2.A: Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems. Plants depend on water and light to grow. (2-LS2-1). Plants depend on animals for pollination or to move their seeds around. (2-LS2-2)

LS4.D: Biodiversity and Humans There are many different kinds of living things in any area, and they exist in different places on land and in water. (2-LS4-1)

3rd Grade NGSS Science standards covered in this lesson.

3-LS4-4.Make a claim about the merit of a solution to a problem caused when the environment changes and the types of plants and animals that live there may change.

3-LS4-3.Construct an argument with evidence that in a particular habitat some organisms can survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all.

LS4.C: Adaptation. For any particular environment, some kinds of organisms survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all. (3-LS4-3)

LS4.D: Biodiversity and Humans. Populations live in a variety of habitats, and change in those habitats affects the organisms living there. (3-LS4-4)

LS1.B: Growth and Development of Organisms. Reproduction is essential to the continued existence of every kind of organism. Plants and animals have unique and diverse life cycles. (3-LS1-1)

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4th Grade NGSS Science standards covered in this lesson

4-LS1-1.Construct an argument that plants and animals have internal and external structures that function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction.

LS1.A: Structure and Function. Plants and animals have both internal and external structures that serve various functions in growth, survival, behavior, and reproduction. (4-LS1-1)

ESS2.E: Biogeology. Living things affect the physical characteristics of their regions. (4-ESS2-1)

5th Grade NGSS Science standards covered in this lesson

5-LS1-1. Support an argument that plants get the materials they need for growth chiefly from air and water.

5-LS2-1. Develop a model to describe the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment.

LS2.A: Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems. The food of almost any kind of animal can be traced back to plants. Organisms are related in food webs in which some animals eat plants for food and other animals eat the animals that eat plants. Some organisms, such as fungi and bacteria, break down dead organisms (both plants or plants parts and animals) and therefore operate as “decomposers.” Decomposition eventually restores (recycles) some materials back to the soil. Organisms can survive only in environments in which their particular needs are met. A healthy ecosystem is one in which multiple species of different types are each able to meet their needs in a relatively stable web of life. Newly introduced species can damage the balance of an ecosystem. (5-LS2-1)

LS2.B: Cycles of Matter and Energy Transfer in Ecosystems. Matter cycles between the air and soil and among plants, animals, and microbes as these organisms live and die. Organisms obtain gases, and water, from the environment, and release waste matter (gas, liquid, or solid) back into the environment. (5-LS2-1)

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Middle School 6th - 8th g\Grade NGSS Science standards covered in this lesson

MS-LS1-6.Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for the role of photosynthesis in the cycling of matter and flow of energy into and out of organisms.

MS-LS2-1.Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for the effects of resource availability on organisms and populations of organisms in an ecosystem.

LS1.C: Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms. Plants, algae (including phytoplankton), and many microorganisms use the energy from light to make sugars (food) from carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and water through the process of photosynthesis, which also releases oxygen. These sugars can be used immediately or stored for growth or later use. (MS-LS1-6)Within individual organisms, food moves through a series of chemical reactions in which it is broken down and rearranged to form new molecules, to support growth, or to release energy. (MS-LS1-7)

LS2.A: Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems. Organisms, and populations of organisms, are dependent on their environmental interactions both with other living things and with nonliving factors. (MS-LS2-1). In any ecosystem, organisms and populations with similar requirements for food, water, oxygen, or other resources may compete with each other for limited resources, access to which consequently constrains their growth and reproduction. (MS-LS2-1). Growth of organisms and population increases are limited by access to resources. (MS-LS2-1)

LS2.B: Cycle of Matter and Energy Transfer in Ecosystems. Food webs are models that demonstrate how matter and energy is transferred between producers, consumers, and decomposers as the three groups interact within an ecosystem. Transfers of matter into and out of the physical environment occur at every level. Decomposers recycle nutrients from dead plant or animal matter back to the soil in terrestrial environments or to the water in aquatic environments. The atoms that make up the organisms in an ecosystem are cycled repeatedly between the living and nonliving parts of the ecosystem. (MS-LS2-3)

LS2.C: Ecosystem Dynamics, Functioning, and Resilience. Ecosystems are dynamic in nature; their characteristics can vary over time. Disruptions to any physical or biological component of an ecosystem can lead to shifts in all its populations. (MS-LS2-4)PS3.D: Energy in Chemical Processes and Everyday Life. The chemical reaction by which plants produce complex food molecules (sugars) requires an energy input (i.e., from sunlight) to occur. In this reaction, carbon dioxide and water combine to form carbon-based organic molecules and release oxygen. (secondary to MS-LS1-6). Cellular respiration in plants and animals involve chemical reactions with oxygen that release stored energy. In these processes, complex molecules containing carbon react with oxygen to produce carbon dioxide and other materials. (secondary to MS-LS1-7)

MS-LS2-2.Construct an explanation that predicts patterns of interactions among organisms across multiple ecosystems.

MS-LS2-5. Evaluate competing design solutions for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services.

MS-LS1-5.Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for how environmental and genetic factors influence the growth of organisms.