Berthold Public School

The 7th grade STEM class is doing a project on growing lettuce and potatoes in Mars regolith. Mars regolith basically is a recreation of Martian Soil that has been made in a lab so we can simulate what it would be like to grow plants with Martian Soil. The Mars regolith has such tiny particles that it is finer than sand and lot lighter. The 7th grade class applied to the Institute of Competitive Science to grow lettuce and potatoes using Mars regolith. We got NASA Space Grant from the University of Dakota to get about 5 lbs of Mars regolith without any cost. The students had to set up their experiment with choosing how much martian regolith added to top soil will allow their plants to grow and prosper. They proposed doing this so maybe one day their experiment will actually take place on Mars when we go there. They chose to grow Baby Leaf Lettuce and Fingerling Potatoes for their crops. In choosing a plant to grow, they needed to choose a plant that would be easy to grow in harsh conditions. Also, they needed plants that would help make soil. The competition spans the world in the class that they chose which is in Middle School Division. Wish us luck and hopefully, we will have lettuce and potatoes growing in the Mars regolith.