JAXA astronaut Satoshi Furukasa sets up the second Plants in Space experiment aboard the International Space Station.
When was the last time your students got to participate in experiments conducted aboard the International Space Station? How about today?
Baylor College of Medicine, in partnership with NASA, BioServe Space Technologies, Center for the Advancement of Science in Space, and the National Space Biomedical Research Institute, invites you and your students to join in real space research conducted on the ISS.
We offer investigations that enable students to compare organisms in their classrooms to similar plants or animals from experiments on the ISS. Free teacher guides, video and photo libraries from the actual ISS experiments, and all other curricular resources you need to get started are available.
The links provided below will take you to the unit webpages on Baylor’s BioEd Online website.
Ants in Space
NASA ISS Expedition 38—All Grade Levels: In January 2014, Baylor’s Center for Educational Outreach, in partnership with BioServe Space Technologies at the University of Colorado, Stanford University, and NASA, conducted the live Ants in Space mission aboard the International Space Station. The experiment involved eight habitats, each containing approximately 100 pavement ants, with the focus of the experiment on how pavement ants work together to search a novel space.
Butterflies in Space
NASA Mission STS-129—All Grade Levels: Nov. 16, 2009, Painted Lady butterfly larvae were carried into Earth orbit inside a special habitat container on board Space Shuttle Atlantis. Astronauts transferred the habitat to International Space Station, where the larvae completed their life cycles. This mission was the first time larvae went through normal instar stages in microgravity, and completed metamorphosis into four butterflies that lived a normal life span on the ISS.
Plants in Space
NASA Mission STS-134—All Grade Levels: On May 16, 2011, Space Shuttle Endeavour began its final mission, a trip to the International Space Station. In addition to its primary payload, the Shuttle carried a student investigation which involved plant root growth in space. This investigator’s manual describes the plant root growth investigation and provides the details necessary for students and teachers to collect and analyze data while conducting their own parallel investigations.
Spiders in Space
NASA Missions STS-126 and STS-134—All Grade Levels. Two life science experiments in microgravity on the International Space Station. Based on results from the first Mission, a second Mission using different specifications was planned. On May 16, 2011, Space Shuttle Endeavour, on it's final trip, transported the payload to the ISS. Its payload included a student investigation which involved the behavior of orb-weaving spiders in microgravity. Results from the Mission can be used today with the curricular module.
