Seed Treatment for 2012

For 2012, teachers will receive two packages of seeds for each class registered. The packages are labeled "S" and "T". Each package will contain approximately 40 seeds; the seeds are packaged by weight and there could be a variance of +/-5.

One package of seeds is a control group and the other is the "treatment" group. The tomato may be a candidate for a "farm on Mars".

This year is the first year of a three-year plan for Tomatosphere, culminating with the returned seeds (600 000 of them) from the International Space Station for your use in 2014.

For 2012, we will be utilizing a process called "priming" for the treatment group. THIS WILL REQUIRE ADDITIONAL DATA COLLECTION. PLEASE NOTE THE CHANGES ASSOCIATED WITH THE DATA COLLECTION OUTLINED BELOW.

Teachers may be unfamiliar with the concept of "priming" seeds. However, teachers understand the value of Early Childhood Education … and how it can influence later classroom experiences in the higher grades! Giving a child a good start in education is important; the same can be said for seeds. Priming seeds is like giving them a "better start" to life.

Another way of explaining this process has been developed by Keith Kubik, Ph.D. a Seed Physiologist with the Harris Moran Seed Company in California. Dr. Kubik compared seed priming to building a pre-fabricated house. Pre-fabricated houses are built INSIDE A FACTORY. The walls and roof are put together in an environment that is ideal for the workers – very important in our climate here in Canada - and building efficiencies are best. However, the house is not completed inside the factory. The pre-built walls and roof are taken to the building site where the remaining construction takes place – the electrical work, the plumbing, and the basic fixtures like countertops and inside trim. Less time is consumed at the site, and the houses go up more quickly and more efficiently.

Similarly, with seeds, the priming process starts the germination process in the laboratory. The basic chemical reactions or framework needed for the seed to germinate take place under ideal temperatures and high moisture conditions. The seed moisture is set so that the germination is ALMOST complete … just like the prefabricated house when it is moved onto the actual home site.

When you get your seeds, one of the two groups will be a control group and the other group will have been "primed" – almost ready for germination. Like the pre-fabricated house, seed germination of the primed seeds will probably take less time, because part of the germination process is already complete.

You will still report on the germination process – the number of seeds planted and number of seeds germinated.

In addition, we are asking you to record the DATE that the seeds were planted, and to take close note of the TIME that it takes your two sets of seeds (S and T) to germinate – how many days until the first germination, and how much time between the first and last germination…for each of the two groups.

Click here to link to the forms providing the information that you will need when submitting results.

You are receiving 40 seeds per package this year. You may plant as many as are possible for the space you have; we suggest a MINIMUM of 25. Some (5 – 10) from each group could be germinated using "growing spheres" which are are small polymers that have a strong affinity for water – like a sponge absorbing water. They swell to about 300 times their size. They are invisible in water and can be used to "view" the germination process (which students cannot see when they are in the peat pots). Go to the section in the Teacher Resources - Growing Spheres for more information. Note that this should be used as a DEMONSTRATION ONLY and the data should not be included in your data submitted.