A CENTRAL Victorian school is preparing to play its part in a science experiment that is out of this world.
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East Loddon P-12 College is among more than 150 recipients of golden wattle seeds, which are being flown to the International Space Station.
The project - involving the One Giant Leap Australia Foundation, the Australian Space Agency and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency - explores what'll happen to the wattle seeds once they return to Earth.
The seeds are due to blast off with a Space X flight from Florida at the weekend.
East Loddon P-12 College will receive six of the space seeds upon their return in 2021.
"They wanted them to be in space for at least six months," Mrs Johns, the college's maths and science leader, said.
If all goes according to plan, the seeds should return in time for Science Week.
In addition to the six space seeds, the East Loddon P-12 College would also receive six seeds that had remained on Earth, as a comparison point.
The space seeds will eventually be planted at the school, becoming part of a national map of "space wattle" sites.
Mrs Johns said the seeds would initially be planted in a mini greenhouse, so the growing conditions could be compared with all the other sites.
The project would be incorporated into the college's activities.
Students would be involved in measuring the seeds' germination and growth.
Year Six student Emily Sinclair was excited about seeing how the experiments went.
"We've never done anything like this before," she said.
She was interested in how the seeds that went to space would be affected by exposure to a different atmosphere.
Miss Sinclar said she and her peers were surprised when they learned the school's application to be part of the program was successful.
"We were a bit loud the lesson we found out," she said.
Students featured in the college's application, which included a video and a written component.
East Loddon P-12 College's application highlighted some of its existing programs and projects with agricultural components.
They ranged from the prep seedling planting program to the year five and six students' management of the school garden, and VCE studies in horticulture and agriculture.
A member of the selection panel said entries came from all over Australia.
The panel spent five days watching videos.
"From a single teacher in a face mask in a school in Victoria to a small school in remote Northern Territory, it has been an amazing opportunity to laugh and cry our way through them," the panel member said.
Schools, scout groups and Australian Air Force Cadets were selected for involvement.
Mrs Johns was hopeful the Seeds in Space initiative would help the school and its students build connections with participants outside of the region.
She also believed it could inspire students about the many and varied opportunities agriculture could offer.
Much of the school community has ties to the agricultural sector, which is a key industry in the region.
"It's a great way to link agriculture and space," Mrs Johns said of the project.
In addition to broadening students' horizons, she said the initiative would help generate skills in areas like data collection.
"It opens their eyes to the requirements of science," Mrs Johns said.
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