Recreating Mark Watney's Potato Farm

So we all starting thinking about how and if we could create our own potato farm in school.

We started thinking about the obstacles;

• no sunlight
• no one available 24/7 to water the plants
• soil or something else?

A little more research and we discovered the word/technique: 
hydroponics (noun) 1. the cultivation of plants by placing the roots in liquid nutrient solutions, rather than in soil; soil less growth of plants

We jotted our ideas on the board:

Potatoes and Butternut squash

Connect to the Space Station

So we have discovered that there is a space station orbiting the earth right now (actually it has been orbiting for 15 years).  There are 3-6 astronauts in the station at one time, one astronaut is named Scott Kelly, originally from New Jersey and we recently found out they have an experimental lunar garden on board.

These are some cool gif's about the past 15 years aboard the space station (click on the link below)

15 Years on the Space Station


Maybe we can contact the astronauts to find out how they grow plants without sunlight.

So Many Questions!

"Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars.  Now he's sure he'll be the last person to die there. " A. Weir

We collectively ask -Why?  The answer: He will starve to death.

How can we save him?  As we continue to read we have so many questions about the possibilities.

Can Mars really be inhabited? What is the planets' surface and temperature like? What is the soil like?  Is there water?  Can we grow plants? What plants contain the best nutrients and calories to sustain life?

A little research and we found this video about a lunar garden already in space.

Our First Blog

Welcome to our first blog! 
Excited students talk about their interests and select our first books to read!  The 7th & 8th graders have chosen The Martian by Andy Weir and the 6th graders have chosen Space Case by Stuart Gibbs. We are all fascinated by space and the possibility of a new colony of Americans living on Mars in 2030!