Launch Labz connects scientists across Burgmann

Seeds that have travelled to space are now the subject of an investigation connecting Burgmann’s Year 5 students with Years 11 and 12 Earth and Environmental Science students.

Science teacher Suren Mendis secured early access to the Launch Labz kits after hearing Australian astronaut Katherine Bennell-Pegg speak at CONASTA. Each kit contains seeds flown in space and control seeds that remained on Earth, allowing students to compare how the two groups germinate and grow.

The investigation began with Senior School Earth and Environmental Science students, who considered whether exposure to conditions including microgravity and changes in temperature and pressure might affect the seeds.

Burgmann’s extended year-level range then created an opportunity to take the project beyond the senior science classroom. During ICAP, Year 12 students joined Year 5 classes to help the younger students establish their own Launch Labz experiments.

There was an immediate lift in energy as the Year 5 students put on lab coats and safety goggles and began working with their Senior School peers. Together, they discussed how conditions in space differ from those on Earth and how those differences could affect plant growth.

Working in groups, the Year 5 students labelled their test tubes, added perlite or vermiculite and planted their space and Earth seeds. With guidance from the Year 12 students, they carefully added water and recorded their hypotheses.

Both groups embraced the opportunity. The Year 5 students were excited to participate in an authentic space-related investigation with the support of older students. The Year 12s shared their subject knowledge, answered questions and guided each group through the practical process.

The collaboration made the activity more than a science experiment. It gave younger students access to senior-level knowledge and encouragement, while asking the Year 12s to strengthen their own understanding by explaining it to a different audience.

The test tubes have now returned to the Year 5 classrooms, where students will water the seeds and record their observations over the coming weeks.