National FFA and Institute of Competition Sciences are pleased to announce the first ever partnership for Endorsed FFA Activities.

This new partnership between the Institute of Competition Sciences (ICS) and the National FFA Organization (formerly known as Future Farmers of America) is inspiring students across the country by challenging them to develop innovative experiments to learn how to plant the Moon! This collaboration is bringing the Plant the Moon Challenge™ (PTMC) to the extensive FFA community to expand and enhance the opportunities for students to engage with NASA, space exploration, and STEM like never before.

 

About the Challenge

Inspired by NASA’s Artemis Program, the Plant the Moon Challenge offers students of all ages a unique opportunity to explore the potential of food production, crop science, and agriculture beyond Earth. Teams of students receive simulated lunar soil and are challenged to design their own experiments to see how to grow the best crops for future NASA missions. Lunar regolith (the top layer of fine, powdered dirt on the Moon) is a harsh environment for crops. With no biologic components and a fine grained, powdery texture, accessing the nutrients crops need is extremely difficult. The PTMC provides students a hands-on research project that not only applies to space exploration, but also to addressing the increasingly harsh growing environments many farmers are facing on the Earth.

With the help of a Project Guide and series of engagement activities, students choose their crops, define experimental parameters, and track their progress over an eight-week grow period. Once complete, teams submit a final project report that is evaluated by scientists and NASA experts for a chance to win prestigious awards, including Best in Show and, for high school participants, an unforgettable trip to the Kennedy Space Center!

Since its inception in 2021, the Plant the Moon Challenge has garnered widespread participation, reaching tens of thousands of students representing 44 states as well as international entries from 17 countries. The 2023 PTMC programs included 44% of participants coming from Title I schools, 57% from schools where half or more of the students receive free or reduced lunch, and 33% from majority minority institutions.

The Challenge is also supported by a network of 25 NASA Space Grant Consortia who help engage teams in their states and strengthen professional development and aerospace curriculum. A regional collaboration of six Space Grant Consortia in the southeast (WV, VA, NC, SC, FL, and PR), led by the Virginia Space Grant Consortium, received support from NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement (OSTEM) to expand the PTMC in their states and pilot a regional PTMC Symposium at NASA Kennedy Space Center Visitors Complex. This is now being extended to teams across the country. Additionally, a Science Advisory Board of approximately 30 scientists, industry leaders, and NASA experts serve as judges, mentors, and curriculum reviewers for the program.

 

Agriculture + Aerospace

The Plant the Moon Challenge is a transdisciplinary program, seamlessly combining agriculture and aerospace STEM in a way that is not only incredibly engaging for students, but also highly relevant. The National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) and National Science Foundation (NSF) have both encouraged the use of transdisciplinary education to help inspire students to pursue STEM careers.

NASA scientists are actively working to learn how humans can better live and work in space, including how to grow nutritious food for astronauts. Researchers from Texas A&M University and Brown University have cultivated chickpeas using lunar simulant, and University of Florida (UF) scientists have even grown plants in regolith from Apollo 11, Apollo 12, and Apollo 17!

Though they might seem like an unlikely duo, agriculture and aerospace truly do come together to create an abundance of future research and career opportunities. Students who take part in the PTMC aren’t just getting a fun in-classroom experience—they’re doing exactly the kind of research that scientists around the world are actively interested in and exploring. Regardless of whether future astronauts end up growing their food in the lunar regolith, student PTMC experiments are providing a wealth of information on how crops respond to the various harsh conditions presented by the lunar regolith and scientists are using this to enhance how we grow crops in space and on the Earth.

PTMC Experiential Awards

This year, the Plant the Moon Challenge has introduced new experiential awards for high school and professional levels! At the High School level, two Grand Prize-winning teams will receive a trip to the NASA Kennedy Space Center Visitor’s Complex for a final PTMC event, providing a once-in-a-lifetime experience that will give them an inside look at the possibilities surrounding space exploration and aerospace careers. At the college level, two Grand Prize teams will receive support to attend a professional conference of their choice to help share their research and connect with future career opportunities!

And to anyone interested in the Challenge, registration is open through September 15^th. Register here: https://plantthemoon.com/register/

 

About The FFA

The National FFA Organization is a school-based national youth leadership development organization of more than 945,000 student members as part of 9,163 local FFA chapters in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The FFA mission is to make a positive difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education. For more, visit the National FFA Organization online at FFA.org and on Facebook and Twitter.

 

About ICS

The Institute of Competition Sciences was founded in 2012 to help bring challenge-based learning to students across the globe. The Institute’s programs leverage the power of competition to inspire and engage students in learning in all disciplines, but with a particular focus on STEM. ICS helps create academic heroes and builds the structures and systems upon which they can be recognized and rewarded.

 

Register to Participate

The Plant the Moon Challenge engages students in cutting-edge scientific research while building an even deeper understanding of plant science and innovative farming techniques especially relevant to the FFA community. By participating in the Challenge, FFA members will have the opportunity to apply their unique knowledge in an entirely unexpected context, and to discover new opportunities in agriculture that they may have never considered before. The new collaboration between national FFA and ICS encourages FFA members to join the Plant the Moon Challenge and test their crop science research skills against students across the world.

For more information about the national FFA and the Plant the Moon Challenge, please visit their respective websites: FFA and PTMC

 

The Plant the Moon Challenge is open to students of all ages across the world. Register your team for the Challenge today.