Nipmuc Regional High School fielded six teams in the fall 2024 Plant the Moon Challenge season, with 20 students drawn from the Engineering 1 class. Sophomores Luke Calabrese and Liam Flanagan won the “Best Evaluation of Results” award, announced during the PTMC Closing Symposium and Awards Ceremony held virtually on Jan. 15. (Photo courtesy Mendon-Upton Regional School District)
MENDON — Superintendent Dr. Maureen Cohen and Nipmuc Regional High School Co-Principals John Clements and Mary Anne Moran are proud to share that Sophomores Luke Calabrese and Liam Flanagan have won the “Best Evaluation of Results” award in the high school division of the international Plant the Moon Challenge.
The award was announced during the Plant the Moon Challenge (PTMC) Closing Symposium and Awards Ceremony, which was held virtually on Jan. 15. It caps off the international STEM competition run by the Institute of Competition Sciences for the fall 2024 season.
Under the guidance of engineering teacher James Gorman, Nipmuc Regional High School fielded six teams in the competition, with a total of 20 students from the Engineering 1 class. This was the first time that Nipmuc Regional High School participated in the PTMC.
Selected from hundreds of projects submitted from around the world, the “Best Evaluation of Results” award recognizes Luke and Liam for the strength of their methods of evaluation for their experiments on lunar soil plant growth using the aid of an inoculant, which is a bacteria added to the soil. Judged by a panel of experts, their project was one of four high school submissions to be named “Best in Show Winners,” with the other categories including “Experimental Design,” “Plant Growth,” and “Innovation.”
“Watching Luke and Liam develop their engineering design skills and tackle each challenge methodically was impressive,” Gorman said. “They started with basic questions about lunar soil composition and engineered sophisticated solutions for plant growth in space. Their ‘Best Evaluation of Results’ award validates their work and their growth as young engineers.”
The students performed experiments throughout the fall to test the impact of nutrients, fertilizers, or other modifications on simulated lunar soil. The goal was to determine the best methods for growing nutrient-rich food during future space missions to the Moon or Mars.
Over the course of an eight-week experiment, Luke and Liam studied the growth of round black Spanish radishes in simulated lunar soil, applying an inoculant called UltraBio by HardyGro, a mixture of bacteria, organic nitrogen, and other ingredients such as mycorrhizae, a type of fungal root. Their plants reached up to 12 centimeters in height during one of the trials, which also involved periodic soil moisture readings and further post-experiment analysis. Judges credited Luke and Liam for their exceptional scientific methodology, including a hypothesis presentation with clear acceptance and rejection criteria, impressive data analysis, and a strong evaluation of results.
The science projects were made possible through grants that Gorman sought from the Massachusetts Space Grant Consortium, providing a grant of $1,200 to cover the costs of registration and the materials.
Luke and Liam’s project utilized advanced soil moisture sensors provided in the SDG sensor kit provided by MaxIQ.Space. The successful partnership between Nipmuc and MaxIQ.Space began in 2023, when the school earned designation as a “center of excellence” in Space STEM, Education, and the “Internet of Things” from the Virginia-based STEM education company.
“The Plant the Moon Challenge has given our students the opportunity to engage in rigorous, long-term scientific research,” said Co-Principal Moran. “This is a testament to the power of project-based learning in preparing students for success in STEM fields, including space exploration.”
Throughout the course of their project, Luke and Liam received guidance from NASA intern and Texas A&M doctoral student Jessica Atkin. Looking ahead, Luke and Liam plan to continue their research under Jessica Atkin’s mentorship, conducting further soil analysis and experiments while refining the amounts of soil inoculant used in their future trials.
“Having a professional to consult and brainstorm with was incredibly beneficial for our research and experimentation process, as it allowed us to consider ideas we wouldn’t have otherwise and to point out variables we had not identified,” Liam said.
Luke said the project made him realize the importance of research in forming scientific experiments.
“Before you jump into testing stuff, you really need to understand what you’re trying to solve,” Luke said. “Doing good research at the start totally changed how I thought about our experiment.”
Co-Principal Clements and Superintendent Dr. Cohen congratulated Luke, Liam, and all of the Engineering 1 class at Nipmuc Regional High School for their successful first season in the PTMC.
“This achievement perfectly demonstrates Nipmuc’s commitment to authentic STEM education,” said Co-Principal Clements.
“We’re grateful to engineering teacher James Gorman and all our STEM educators for creating these transformative learning opportunities,” said Superintendent Dr. Cohen. “The success of Luke, Liam, and the entire Engineering 1 class exemplifies how Nipmuc is preparing its students through authentic learning opportunities in order to address complex challenges, even growing food in outer space.”
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Nipmuc Regional High School fielded six teams in the Plant the Moon Challenge, with a total of 20 students from the Engineering 1 class. (Photo courtesy Mendon-Upton Regional School District)