Frequently asked technical/scientific questions
- What is Tomatosphere?
- Why tomatoes?
- What type of seeds are involved in the project?
- Why tomato seeds into space?
- Who are the Tomatosphere sponsors?
- Why Mars?
- What data will the students gather?
- What will the students do with the data?
- How long does the project take?
- What will students learn by participating in the project?
- My curriculum is really full. How can I squeeze this project into an already crowded curriculum?
- How will teachers be involved in the project?
1. What is Tomatosphere
Tomatosphere is a research project involving more than 9,000 classrooms of Grades 2 to grade 10 students ("Tomatonauts") across Canada, the United States and several other nations. In 2008, students will have the opportunity to grow tomatoes from seeds that have been placed in an environment to simulate the effects of aerocapture, as might occur when entering the atmosphere of Mars, and a control group. In the research project, students will be asked to germinate the seeds, but will not know the origin of the seeds until the results are reported to the web site. At that point, the teacher receives an automatic response indicating which seeds were from each group. This methodology, known as a "blind study" will allow the mystery of the project to be real for the students.
2. Why tomatoes?
Tomatoes are extremely versatile and nutritious. They have high levels of vitamin A and vitamin C and also contain lycopene, an ingredient that may help prevent certain cancers and cardiovascular disease. Tomatoes are included in Canada's Food Guide to Healthy Eating as part of the recommendation of five to ten servings of fruits and vegetables daily.
3. What type of seeds are involved in the project?
The seeds are a plum tomato type from traditional, conventional sources and have not been altered through any means (including biotechnology). They are a variety of seed from H.J. Heinz Canada - H9478 F1. This is a very versatile variety in that it can be used for tomato paste products, fresh juice, and whole peel. The plants will produce mature fruit in a period between 85 and 105 days depending upon growing conditions.
Teachers and students will not know the origin of the two different types of seeds used in the project until germination results have been submitted. This maintains the validity of the experiment.
One group of seeds is a control group; these seeds have had no special treatment. A second group of seeds have been placed in an environment to simulate the effects of aerocapture, as might occur when entering the atmosphere of Mars.
4. Why send tomato seeds into space?
Food availability and life support are major limiting factors in extended space travel and exploration. Plants will be needed to provide a source of fresh, nutritious food and to generate a vital life support system - the addition of oxygen and water to the closed environment aboard the space vehicle, and the removal of carbon dioxide from the space vehicle's air. Scientists need to know how extended periods of time in space affects the germination and growth of plants.
5. Who are the Tomatosphere sponsors?
Tomatosphere is sponsored by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, the Canadian Space Agency, Heinz Canada, H.J. Heinz Company Foundation, Ontario Centres of Excellence, Stokes Seeds and the University of Guelph.
6. Why Mars?
Mars will be the next major global space program after the International Space Station and the establishment of a base on the Moon. Canada is positioning itself to play a signature role in the exploration of Mars and in the provision of life support and closed environment systems for space travel. Canada is also participating in the Aurora Project with the European Space Agency.
7. What data will the students gather?
There are opportunities for teachers to direct students to gather a variety of information about the tomato plants, their germination, vigour and growth patterns. However, the key element of the Tomatosphere research project centres around the germination rates of the seeds that are planted. More information is included in "Tips and Tricks" and in the teacher's manual.
The students will observe:
- The time required for each seed to successfully germinate.
- The number of successfully germinated seeds in each treatment.
As an option, teachers may wish to have their students collect data on:
- The seedling vigour as determined by height measurements;
- Seedling vigour in each treatment.
8. What will the students do with the data?
Students will compile the information (see above). The teacher will send the results electronically to the tomatosphere web site (submit your results). An automatic response will then convey to the teacher (and students), which of the seeds were in each of the three seed packages. The class results will be combined with others across the country. This will enable students to compare the class data with those of other classrooms across the country. The researchers at the University of Guelph will analyse the data and produce a national report.
In addition, teachers receive a certificate of participation for students in the class.
9. How long does the project take?
The scope of the experiment will depend on the teacher, the interest of the students, and the amount of time available in the curriculum for this topic. The Tomatosphere Project Team recognizes the difficulties of covering large amounts of content for classroom teachers and has designed the project to match the curriculum requirements as outlined in the Pan-Canadian Science Curriculum Protocol document which is mirrored in many provinces. The project should be viewed as an integral part of the school/board/provincial curriculum rather than an "add-on" to the curriculum.
Students will observe the process anywhere from seedling germination to full-grown tomatoes (approximately 3 months). The critical germination period is 1-3 weeks, and the growth period is about four to six weeks. Teachers may choose to focus ONLY on the germination part of the project; alternatively, the project can continue with observations about plant vigour and growth.
10. What will students learn by participating in the project?
Students will learn about the exciting world of science, space exploration, food and nutrition. The emphasis is on the life support environment that is required in space. However, applications are also made to the sustainability of life here on earth. There are separate lesson plans for grades 2-4, 5-7 and 8-10. The curriculum focus for each of these areas is related to the Pan-Canadian Science Protocol. For grades 2-4, the emphasis is on the plants, for grades 5-7, the focus is on space and living in space, and for grades 8-10, the central themes relate to energy and the environment.
In 2008-2010, there are new curriculum units related to Mars, living in space, careers in science and environmental studies.
11. My curriculum is really full. How can I squeeze this project into an already crowded curriculum?
The Tomatosphere Project has been designed to incorporate the curriculum concepts and skills from the Pan-Canadian Science Protocol which is used as an umbrella document for the curriculum in jurisdictions across Canada. The Tomatosphere Project will allow teachers to engage a variety of science expectations as well as the opportunity to involve students in cross-curricular activitiesactivities - careers, environmental studies, mathematics... and even the arts.
12. How will teachers be involved in the project?
Teachers are the key contact persons for the project. The numbers have increased every year; in 2008, it is expected that there will be over 10 000 classrooms involved in the project.
Teachers will receive the seed packages in the spring of each year and may be involved for one, two or three years in this new phase of the Tomatosphere Project. Lesson plans, background information, curriculum connections and assessment suggestions are all included in the Teachers' Guide on the web site. For semestered schools, the project can take place in either the spring or the fall. Schools on a year-long program should germinate their seeds in the spring.
One of the key roles for the teacher is the sending in of results to the project web site (submit your results). We ask that teachers do this task since the submission also involves assessment of the project.
Tomatosphere is sponsored by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, the Canadian Space Agency, Heinz Canada, H.J. Heinz Company Foundation, Ontario Centres of Excellence, Stokes Seeds and the University of Guelph.
