Bountiful elementary students to participate in space station experiments – Deseret News

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FILEOrions Quest, a national nonprofit that engages students in research, has announced that students at Washington Elementary School will participate in experiments conducted on the International Space Station.

BOUNTIFUL Orions Quest, a national nonprofit that engages students in research, has announced that students at Washington Elementary School will participate in experiments conducted on the International Space Station.

Orions Quest, based in Plymouth, Michigan, provides all materials and support free of charge. Teachers can choose to engage students in live missions being conducted on the station, or virtual missions that support past station experiments for which scientists continue to collect data.

The students at Washington Elementary will engage in the Fruit Flies in Space virtual mission. Because the fruit fly genome has genetic similarities with the human genome, information gained in studying how changes in gravity alter the flies basic signaling pathways can then be translated to complex human organisms. Other virtual missions include studies of the effects of space on microbes, plant growth, spiders, butterflies and worms.

This will be the first year that our program is at this school, and it is encouraging that they have chosen such an interesting experiment for their students, Peter Lawrie, executive director of Orions Quest, said in a statement. Their participation supports world-class scientists, and we are thrilled that Washington Elementary has seized on this opportunity to expose their students to the wonders of STEM education at this level at a young age.

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Bountiful elementary students to participate in space station experiments - Deseret News