Space project about to rocket in Isle school

Pupils at Epworth Primary Academy are preparing to become space biologists and embark on a voyage of discovery by growing seeds that have been into space.

In September, two kilogrammes of rocket seeds were flown to the International Space Station on Soyuz 44S where they will spend several months in microgravity before returning to Earth in March 2016.

The seeds have been sent as part of Rocket Science, an educational project launched by the RHS Campaign for School Gardening and the UK Space Agency.

Epworth will be one of up to 10,000 schools to receive a packet of 100 seeds from space, which they will grow alongside normal seeds, and measure the differences over seven weeks.

The pupils won’t know which seed packet is which until all results have been collected by the RHS Campaign for School Gardening and analysed by biostatisticians. Teacher Jayne Davies said: “This experiment is a fantastic way of teaching our pupils to think more scientifically and share their findings with the whole school.

“The gardening club will oversee the growing of the seeds, but every child will have an opportunity to become involved through a maths project we have planned.”