Billings Central High biology students presented their research projects Wednesday to the Billings Catholic Schools board as they prepare for an April flight on a zero-gravity plane at Houston's Johnson Space Center.

A group of 10 advanced-biology students will take two research projects to Ellington Field in Houston, where they will be tested on the same zero-gravity airplane the astronauts use. From there, NASA will determine which experiments are worthy of testing on the International Space Station.

This is a phenomenal opportunity for our school, Central High principal Shel Hanser said. This started just as an extracurricular after-school program last spring, but we realized in a hurry that it had to be in the curriculum.

Led by advanced-placement biology teacher Dr. Debora Wines and NASA HUNCH reduced-gravity experiments project manager Dr. Florence Gold, the students have been researching how basic biological systems, specifically enzyme activity and photosynthesis, operate without gravity.

HUNCH High School Students United with NASA to Create Hardware is a school-based program through NASA that promotes student interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Its really incredible that we can offer a STEM course here at Central, Wines told board members. This is a cutting-edge program that we can integrate all of these areas together.

The results of the experiments are aimed to demonstrate the dependence of biological processes under microgravity environments and on the ability of biological cells to adapt to zero-gravity.

One team of four students will observe whether chlorella algae can grow in microgravity, and in turn be used to transform wasted carbon dioxide into oxygen while in space. Chlorella algae is also considered a superfood.

The second team of six will examine fruit fly embryos and the impact of microgravity on the flies' enzyme activity to determine if changes could alter the ability of astronauts to metabolize common pharmaceuticals. The flies are used as a model, students said, because of the biology traits similar to those of humans.

The team is also observing whether alcohol is more or less toxic to cell development when in a microgravity environment using the fruit flies.

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Biology students present NASA HUNCH projects to school board