Creative Inquiry
Project:
SEEDS in Space
Prof. Pamela E. Mack, Clemson University
On this page:
Proposal:
Last fall, Park Seed Company contacted me seeking a research partner to
help put their archives of 138 years in the garden business on the web
for historical research. As our discussions have developed, we
decided to start with a particular project—SEEDS in Space. Park
Seed has worked with NASA on four different experiments to store seeds
in space and then distribute the seeds to schools for experiments by
schoolchildren. The first experiment started in 1983, the second
set of seeds were in space from 1984 to 1990, the third experiment in
1997 placed seeds under the ocean as well as in space, and the current
experiment involves a set of seeds launched into space in July 2006,
hopefully to return to earth this summer. Schools have been
involved all over the country and the world: 121,000 kits have been
sent out to schools, with students encouraged to design their own
experiments using the seeds. See www.parkseed.com/seedsinspace
This struck me as an ideal topic for a creative inquiry project, and I
have met with the Park Seed Special Projects Director, Claire Kuhl, who
is very enthusiastic about a student project. What Park Seed
would like out of this project is a web exhibit about the history of
the SEEDS in Space program. Park Seed has agreed to loan
documents to Clemson and Mike Kohl in Special Collections at the
Clemson University Library has agreed to house them and provide a place
where students can work with them. We also have the cooperation
of Park Seed in arranging interviews and visits to the company, in fact
they have invited me and a student to visit later this month to do more
planning.
Students will get course credit through STS 498: Creative
Inquiry or HIST 289: Creative Inquiry. Students who take three
hours of STS 498 for each of four semesters and
take one other STS course will be able to earn an STS minor.
Student Activities and Outcomes:
As we explore the material provided by Park Seed we will find more
opportunities, but at present I anticipate students will (over a two
year period):
- Do research in NASA reports and published articles about the
project
- Do research in company documents and correspondence that
Park Seed will loan to Special Collections at Clemson University for
student use
- Archival processing of the material with supervision from
Special Collections staff (Mike Kohl)
- Interview people at Park Seed and maybe at NASA who have
been involved in the project—the company hopes to arrange for
transcription of the tapes and Special Collections would like to
preserve them
- Do research to understand NASA’s goals in SEEDS in Space
- Research the educational value of SEEDS in Space in the
education literature, in particular whether it is successful in
increasing student interest in science
- Research the scientific value of SEEDS in Space
- Interview teachers and students who have participated in the
project about what it has meant to them
- Claire Kuhl of Park Seed says the Clemson student team could
be involved in the dissemination of the new group of seeds from space
which should be returned to earth this summer and possibly even in
directly observing how the seeds are used in a classroom setting.
- Hopefully write an article for an education journal about
the history and impact of Seeds in Space
- Prepare an extensive web exhibit about the history of the
project, hopefully backed up with archival material scanned and put on
the web for others to use
- Give a presentation about the history of SEEDS in Space at
the International Association for Science, Technology, and Society
annual meeting in Baltimore
Links:
Park Seed page
on the project
Summary
NASA report
Experiments:
- 1983 -- initial small experiment: Getaway Special
- 1984 - 1990 -- LDEF (Long Duration Exposure Facility)
Experiments: P004-01
and P0004-02
- 1997 -- underwater/earth/space experiment
- 7/4/06 current Basil experiment launched