Participants must FIRST purchase their Plant the Moon kit on https://plantthemoon.com/register-now/. Once you have purchased a kit for the Fall 2022 Season, you should then setup your team here to access the Project Guide and get other information about the grow season and project process.
The Plant the Moon Challenge is a global science experiment, learning activity and inspirational project-based-learning challenge to see who can grow the best crops using lunar and Martian regolith simulant. NASA's Artemis Program is the United States' new initiative to first return to the Moon as a stepping stone human exploration of Mars. The Artemis program, will explore more of the lunar surface than ever before. However, having humans on the Moon is challenging in many ways. One of those challenges is how you will feed your crew. Bringing all of the food and water with you that is needed for long-duration human missions becomes a problem as your mission duration and mission size expands. Using the local resources on the Moon itself could lead to great advancements in our capabilities to explore our celestial neighbor. Understanding how we can use lunar soils to grow crops for future human missions is one of the next great steps in supporting our return to the Moon! And learning the biological capabilities of martian soil may help sustain human life on Mars! Help NASA scientists and the academic community at large learn the best lunar crop conditions by completing your own Plant the Moon and Plant Mars Challenge project and sharing your results with the world! The Plant the Moon Challenge is a student activity and competition to see who can grow the best crops using regolith simulant. Participants will be sent a Plant the Moon Activity Kit including lunar regolith simulant, a Project Guide and a pH paper. Teams will use the Project Guide to define their own plant growth experiments using the simulant. Students will define their own experiment parameters such as the structure of the plant growth setup, amount of water used, and nutrients or fertilizer added to the regolith simulant to help support plant growth. Projects will be evaluated based on review of their experimental setup and the results of their plant growth. Teams will submit photos (optional videos), and an experiment report. Best-in-show awards will be provided to teams with the best plant growth results and experimental design.Competition Process
Each team of students will receive a lunar soil simulant package from the University of Central Florida's CLASS Exolith Laboratory. The lunar and martian soil simulants are specially designed to mimic the soil of the Moon, respectively, in chemistry, composition, grain size, and density. Students will also receive a Project Guide from the Institute of Competition Sciences. Following the project guide, you will create your own experiment to examine important variables related to plant growth in the simulant. Results from your experiment will be shown to NASA scientists and our scientific evaluators to select best in show projects!Judging Criteria
See competition website: https://plantthemoon.com/best-in-show/Awards & Recognition
Best in Show - HS & College
This award counts toward these ICS Academic Badges.
The Data Analysis badge is awarded to students who earn recognition in competitions that demonstrate their ability to process, interpret, visualize, and draw meaningful conclusions from complex datasets. Associated skills: Use statistical tools to identify trends, patterns, and anomalies; create clear charts and graphs; present evidence-based recommendations; clean data to ensure accuracy.
The Critical Thinking badge is awarded to students who earn recognition in competitions that demonstrate their ability to evaluate complex problems, challenge assumptions, adapt to new information, and devise logical solutions. Associated skills: Document decision-making throughout a project; provide a detailed breakdown of results; analyze points of failure and adapt to setbacks; develop innovative ways to communicate or display information.
The Experimental Design badge is awarded to students who earn recognition in competitions that demonstrate their ability to plan and execute high-quality scientific investigations. This badge demonstrates knowledge in identifying important scientific questions, developing experimental protocols, isolating variables, and implementing operational procedures. Associated skills: Formulate valid hypotheses and design repeatable experiments; plan and execute scientific investigations; maintain a control system to validate testing; account for environmental and human error factors.
The Technical Writing badge is awarded to students who earn recognition in competitions that demonstrate their ability to document complex concepts, processes, and conclusions with clarity and precision. Associated skills: Author an exemplary project report; adhere to formatting and citation guidelines; develop replicable manuals or procedures; communicate findings in a research-based essay; integrate graphs and visualizations to effectively display data.
Best In Show - Elementary
This award counts toward these ICS Academic Badges.
The Data Analysis badge is awarded to students who earn recognition in competitions that demonstrate their ability to process, interpret, visualize, and draw meaningful conclusions from complex datasets. Associated skills: Use statistical tools to identify trends, patterns, and anomalies; create clear charts and graphs; present evidence-based recommendations; clean data to ensure accuracy.
The Critical Thinking badge is awarded to students who earn recognition in competitions that demonstrate their ability to evaluate complex problems, challenge assumptions, adapt to new information, and devise logical solutions. Associated skills: Document decision-making throughout a project; provide a detailed breakdown of results; analyze points of failure and adapt to setbacks; develop innovative ways to communicate or display information.
The Experimental Design badge is awarded to students who earn recognition in competitions that demonstrate their ability to plan and execute high-quality scientific investigations. This badge demonstrates knowledge in identifying important scientific questions, developing experimental protocols, isolating variables, and implementing operational procedures. Associated skills: Formulate valid hypotheses and design repeatable experiments; plan and execute scientific investigations; maintain a control system to validate testing; account for environmental and human error factors.
The Technical Writing badge is awarded to students who earn recognition in competitions that demonstrate their ability to document complex concepts, processes, and conclusions with clarity and precision. Associated skills: Author an exemplary project report; adhere to formatting and citation guidelines; develop replicable manuals or procedures; communicate findings in a research-based essay; integrate graphs and visualizations to effectively display data.
Best In Show - Middle
This award counts toward these ICS Academic Badges.
The Critical Thinking badge is awarded to students who earn recognition in competitions that demonstrate their ability to evaluate complex problems, challenge assumptions, adapt to new information, and devise logical solutions. Associated skills: Document decision-making throughout a project; provide a detailed breakdown of results; analyze points of failure and adapt to setbacks; develop innovative ways to communicate or display information.
The Data Analysis badge is awarded to students who earn recognition in competitions that demonstrate their ability to process, interpret, visualize, and draw meaningful conclusions from complex datasets. Associated skills: Use statistical tools to identify trends, patterns, and anomalies; create clear charts and graphs; present evidence-based recommendations; clean data to ensure accuracy.
The Experimental Design badge is awarded to students who earn recognition in competitions that demonstrate their ability to plan and execute high-quality scientific investigations. This badge demonstrates knowledge in identifying important scientific questions, developing experimental protocols, isolating variables, and implementing operational procedures. Associated skills: Formulate valid hypotheses and design repeatable experiments; plan and execute scientific investigations; maintain a control system to validate testing; account for environmental and human error factors.
The Technical Writing badge is awarded to students who earn recognition in competitions that demonstrate their ability to document complex concepts, processes, and conclusions with clarity and precision. Associated skills: Author an exemplary project report; adhere to formatting and citation guidelines; develop replicable manuals or procedures; communicate findings in a research-based essay; integrate graphs and visualizations to effectively display data.
Participate
Website: https://www.plantthemoon.com
Managing Organization: Institute of Competition Sciences
Elementary, Middle School, High School, University, and Professional teams are all welcome to participate and will be judged & awarded according to their age division.