12 Jan 2021
Meet the future scientists of Yarralumla Primary School
Students at Yarralumla Primary School are at the forefront of scientific discovery this year, as they gear up to take part in the What’ll happen with the wattle??! program, run by the One Giant Leap Foundation.
The One Giant Leap Foundation have sent wattle seeds to the International Space Station, where they will remain for the next six months before coming back to Earth in time for National Science Week next year.
Once back on Earth, the seeds will then be distributed to multiple schools across Australia along with seeds collected at the same time in country Victoria. The seeds will be planted alongside each other and closely monitored to see what impact, if any, their time in space has on growth.
The project has already inspired a keen interest in space for the students, who have recently taken an excursion to Questacon to learn more.
At Questacon they learnt all about how space tourism will be possible in their lifetime. They’ve also been researching how gravity affects the way a plant grows: did you know that with or without gravity the roots of a plant don’t grow downwards? They grow out to the left and right to capture more water and nutrients.
The students have also started to explore botany, researching the best way to plant and care for their wattle seeds to maximise growth.
The students are excited to do their part in making science history. The plan when the wattle trees are mature enough is to plant them along the lakeside with plaques explaining the experiment and which plants are grown from the seeds that went to space and which wattle plants came from the control seeds – this way, everyone in the community can follow the progress of their scientific experiment.
“The wattle was chosen because it’s our national emblem, it’s what represents the green and gold at the Olympics,” one student said.
“It’s exciting that we get to be part of history. Even when I’m not at this school, I can go past the lake and see the wattle that I helped to plant, and see how it’s growing,” another student said.
Once they have planted their seeds, the students will record their data in the What’ll happen to the wattle??! app. The One Giant Leap Foundation will also create a map all the ‘space wattle trees’ around Australia.
When asked who was interested in space prior to being selected for the program, around three to four students raised their hands. When asked who was inspired to take an interest in space thanks to their involvement in the project, every hand in the classroom shot up!
It’s fantastic to see the students taking part in making scientific history. Exciting opportunities such as these enhance students’ learning at school and help them blossom into lifelong learners.
Stay tuned for National Science Week in 2021, when the students at Yarralumla Primary School will update us on the progress of the wattle seeds upon their return to Earth midyear.