Participate in the Plant the Moon Challenge Jr. Spring 2025 by Institute of Competition Sciences. Register by January 13!

About ICS

Since 2012, the Institute of Competition Sciences has been defining best-practices in competition strategy, design, and operations. We aim to spark a new level of community engagement in science, technology, and education by supporting a global network of educational competitions. ICS maintains a firm commitment to providing real value to our users through a thoughtful, step-by-step approach to educational engagement. This drives the development of services that go above and beyond just running competitions.

About the Challenge

The Plant the Moon Challenge is for anyone daring enough to explore and stretch the limits of human possibility. We’re piggybacking off of NASA’s new lunar exploration program, Artemis, and giving you the chance to help get astronauts back to the moon. Participants in the Challenge will use the Project Guide to  choose their crop and help define their own experimental parameters to support plant growth. After an 8-week growing period, teams will submit final project reports and join the global network of researchers helping to expand our space exploration capabilities!

Eligibility

High School & University/Professional teams are all welcome to participate and will be judged & awarded according to their age division. Elementary & Middle School students can participate in Plant the Moon Challenge Jr!

Process

  • Each team of students will receive a lunar or Martian soil simulant package complete with pots, masks, and a pH meter or strips.
  • The lunar and Martian soil simulants are specially designed to mimic the soil of the Moon or Mars in chemistry, composition, grain size, and density.
  • Teams will also receive a digital Project Guide from the Institute of Competition Sciences (available August 1).
  • Following the Project Guide, you will create your own experiment to examine important variables related to plant growth in the simulant.
  • Results from your experiment will be shown to our scientific evaluators to select Best in Show winning projects!

How to Register?

Interested participants can register through this link.

Deadline

The deadline for registration is January 13, 2025.

Contact

ptmc[at]competitionsciences[dot]org

Click here to view the official notification of the Plant the Moon Challenge Jr. Spring 2025 by Institute of Competition Sciences.