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ExoLab - International Space Station Experiment : Fizzics Education
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ExoLab – International Space Station Experiment

ExoLab – International Space Station Experiment

Run an identical experiment to the International Space Station in your school

The ExoLab combines an LMS with a school kit that measures & compares real-time data with an International Space Station experiment on plant growth.

The same device that will arrive on the ISS is the same device that schools use in their classrooms.

As an internet of things device, students can access the experiment from school or their home, complete lessons on the LMS as well as join a global community of schools!

Important – this project is paired to a Space X re-supply mission to the International Space Station

  • Order early to ensure on-time delivery.
  • Supplies are limited.
  • Place your pre-order now for mid-year delivery ($1245 inc. GST for 1 Exolab + 30 student kits).

Fill out this form if you would like to find out more information or to wish to pre-order

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  • ExoLab combines real science and real scientific equipment with student online courses, all whilst contributing to data being collected from the ISS
  • Share in an international school community to compare results & ideas along with the U.S. National Laboratory.
  • Collect and analyze data to identify the optimal combination of legume, bacteria, and soil to produce nodulation in the harsh environment of the space.
  • Engage in experimental design, data collection and analysis, writing and revising hypotheses, and communicating about what they’ve learned using evidence from their experiments.
  • Direct curriculum outcomes for school
  • Guided by experienced educators from Fizzics Education & Magnitude.

Available Australia-wide

The experiments are initiated on the ISS in accordance with resupply missions. This allows for multiple experiments per year, giving options on when to align the classroom experiment with the ISS experiment. Students look for relationships between the environmental conditions, including the effect of microgravity on the growth of living things in general.

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Australian ACARA Content Outcomes:
Science

Living things have life cycles (ACSSU072).

Living things depend on each other and the environment to survive (ACSSU073)

Living things have structural features and adaptations that help them to survive in their environment (ACSSU043).

The growth and survival of living things are affected by physical conditions of their environment (ACSSU094)

Forces can be exerted by one object on another through direct contact or from a distance (ACSSU076).

With guidance, pose clarifying questions and make predictions about scientific investigations (ACSIS232)

Identify, plan and apply the elements of scientific investigations to answer questions and solve problems using equipment and materials safely and identifying potential risks (ACSIS103)

Decide variables to be changed and measured in fair tests, and observe measure and record data with accuracy using digital technologies as appropriate (ACSIS104)

Construct and use a range of representations, including tables and graphs, to represent and describe observations, patterns or relationships in data using digital technologies as appropriate (ACSIS107)

Compare data with predictions and use as evidence in developing explanations (ACSIS221)

Communicate ideas, explanations and processes using scientific representations in a variety of ways, including multi-modal texts (ACSIS110)

Australian National Curriculum Mapping for all our science workshops & shows for all our science workshops & shows

NSW Science & Technology Syllabus Content
A student:

ST2-4LW-S
compares features and characteristics of living and non-living things

ST2-9PW-ST
describes how contact and non-contact forces affect an object’s motion

ST2-1WS-S
questions, plans and conducts scientific investigations, collects and summarises data and communicates using scientific representations

ST2-2DP-T
selects and uses materials, tools and equipment to develop solutions for a need or opportunity

ST3-4LW-S
examines how the environment affects the growth, survival and adaptation of living things

ST3-9PW-ST
investigates the effects of increasing or decreasing the strength of a specific contact or non-contact force

ST3-1WS-S
plans and conducts scientific investigations to answer testable questions, and collects and summarises data to communicate conclusions

ST3-2DP-T
plans and uses materials, tools and equipment to develop solutions for a need or opportunity

NSW K – 10 Science Syllabus mapping for all our incursions

Victorian F – 10 Science Curriculum

Different living things have different life cycles and depend on each other and the environment to survive (VCSSU058)

Living things have structural features and adaptations that help them to survive in their environment (VCSSU074)

The growth and survival of living things are affected by the physical conditions of their environment (VCSSU075)

Forces can be exerted by one object on another through direct contact or from a distance (VCSSU064)

With guidance, pose questions to clarify practical problems or inform a scientific investigation, and predict what the findings of an investigation might be based on previous experiences or general rules (VCSIS082)

With guidance, plan appropriate investigation types to answer questions or solve problems and use equipment, technologies and materials safely, identifying potential risks (VCSIS083)

Construct and use a range of representations, including tables and graphs, to record, represent and describe observations, patterns or relationships in data (VCSIS085)

Compare data with predictions and use as evidence in developing explanations (VCSIS086)

Communicate ideas and processes using evidence to develop explanations of events and phenomena and to identify simple cause-and-effect relationships (VCSIS088)

Print a PDF which details K to 6 mapping of all our science visits

Science Show Activities

Scientific Inquiry

Position your students at the forefront of scientific research alongside the ISS

Conducting experiments on the ISS in microgravity

Discover insights in real-time alongside our team of principal Investigators and scientists

Data collection and analysis

Real data from real equipment used on the ISS

Rocket Science

Link learning with the SpaceX launches over the next 18 months

Plant Physiology

Investigate biology, chemistry & environmental science using red clover

Legumes and the Nitrogen Cycle

Measure the nitrogen cycle; are legumes useful for space exploration?

Tropisms

How is growth affected by microgravity vs gravity at sea-level?

Microscopy

Link microscopy with space science

Bonus lessons include art projects, nutrition, genetics, soils, food sustainability, and more.

So much to do!

A picture of the ISS experiment ExoLab under lights

ISS Mission & Classroom Information

A SpaceX Falcon rocket will launch a Dragon cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station. It will lift off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Seeds will be placed in three test tubes within the 4 cube unit ExoLab and about two days later, it will be powered up by an astronaut on the ISS. Through the Magnitude Classroom, you will have near real-time imagery of the growing seedlings and can observe how microgravity impedes or improves plant growth, and if the nodulation that occurs on Earth through the symbiotic legume-rhizobium relationship can be replicated in space. Each week, you will have access to pre-recorded and/or live videos with mission updates.

The ExoLab mission will investigate how the stress of spaceflight affects the symbiotic relationship of red clover and nitrogen-fixing Rhizobia bacteria. With a goal of achieving root nodulation during spaceflight, you have a rare opportunity to be part of this authentic research mission. As a mission participant, you will grow red clover plants in the 1G environment of Earth as part of the ground control experiment. Then, you will compare results to the flight experiment in the microgravity environment of the ISS.

ExoLab Curriculum

Overview of the learning sequence

ExoLab offers a thoughtfully designed inquiry-based curriculum and is meant to help students deepen their experimentation skills through the use of our technology. Through a series of experiments, you’ll learn more about plant growth on Earth and then investigate plant growth on the International Space Station.

Student Topic:

Capturing Carbon Dioxide for Survival on Earth and in Space

Learning objective:

Based on grade level, students will use scientific inquiry to learn about the importance of the carbon cycle on Earth and in space.

Student investigation:

– How can you capture the most carbon by growing alfalfa?

Carbon sequestration of Medicago sativa and/or Medicago truncatula while under the stress of spaceflight for consideration in biofuel production, bioregenerative life support systems, and edible biomass.

In this inquiry-based investigation, students will design an experiment to capture the most carbon by growing the largest alfalfa plants, a versatile forage and legume crop known for high edible biomass production, carbon sequestration, soil rejuvenation, and potential for biofuel.

Driving a mission for change, students will become climate change solutionaries experimenting with alfalfa on a small scale in a classroom experiment and then can plan for a larger impact with a school garden of alfalfa. Concurrently, they will learn about space life support systems and food crop production. Plus, students can opt to get their hands dirty by using local soils to evaluate soil health and productivity. Let’s compare soils globally and determine the resilience of alfalfa to grow under varying nutrient conditions.

Student Data:

  • ExoLab Participants: Measure CO2 levels and plant growth (roots, stems, leaves biomass)
  • Student Kit and Non-ExoLab Participants: Measure the plants (roots, stems, leaves biomass)

Short Video overview

Podcast with Magnitude & Fizzics Education

Options on how you can participate

1. Ground Trial DIY

  • Ground Trials in March
  • Recommendations on how to upcycle the experiment supplies¹ from your kitchen or classroom
  • Limited access to some ground trial lessons
  • Magnitude LIVE(s) with special guests
  • Cost is free

You can purchase the complete ExoLab-10 experience at any time.

¹A supplies list will be provided.

Register below on the Magnitude platform to be notified

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2.Complete ExoLab Experience

  • ExoLab growth chamber
  • Ground Trials in March
  • GT Experiment Classroom Supplies Kit¹
  • Full access to all custom ground trial lessons and online tools
  • Magnitude LIVE(s) with special guests (timezones are US-based and subject to changes on guest availability)
  • Professional development sessions
  • ExoLab ISS Flight Mission
  • Flight Mission Classroom Supplies Kit¹
  • LMS license with full access to flight mission lessons and online tools
  • Access to the post-flight analysis session, data, and reports
  • Submission to the global poster session
  • Certificate of ExoLab completion

¹The Classroom Kit contains…

  • 1 Teacher Kit
  • Supplies for 30 students

Limited availability. Reserve your ExoLab now for the SpaceX launch

Recommend at least 1 per school.

The ExoLab next to it's box. The Exolab looks like a clear plastic box with a camera & sensors

The dimensions of the ExoLab device both terrestrially and in-orbit are based on the common CubeSat specification, which standardizes satellite payloads in an approximate 10 cm cuboid format. ExoLab is in a 2U format, which means that its dimensions are 10 x 10 x 22 cm.

Within this compact frame are a series of sensors to capture, record, and report data, including images, as well as a system to keep the test organisms alive. All of these operate autonomously and continuously.

  • Luminosity
  • Temperature
  • CO2
  • Humidity
  • Camera
  • WiFi

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Growth of a plant on an agar medium

Requirements

If you have one of the kits sent to your school

You will need internet access to join the LMS, the learning community as well as to upload what has been happening in your classroom!

If you have a web conference with us

Each student has a computer or tablet connected to the internet.
If you are teaching from a school, you can connect a computer or smart tablet to a data projector, interactive whiteboard or TV.
We use Zoom as this works with nearly every device and handles low bandwidth. We also can use Webex, Meets and other applications as required.
Please see our Online Child Protection Policy
Please see our Prevention of abuse client protection policy

We're a COVID SAFE Company

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Go further – Complete Units of Work to support your teaching!

Hours of High-Quality videos, printable experiments, quizzes, vocabulary lists,
Scope & sequences, cross-curricular teaching ideas,  marking rubrics & more
Save time & engage students in STEM

Find out more!

Cost

Get the ExoLab Max for everything you need to run experiments on the ISS. (Perfect for in-classroom, distance, citizen science, and homeschool)

Costs vary based on packages

Call 1300 856 828, or click below to make a booking for your school.


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