POCATELLO — A group of eighth-graders at Grace Lutheran won the Best of Show Award in the NASA-sponsored Plant the Moon Challenge Jr.

Cristine Casselman, one of the group’s coaches and a teacher, said this is the second year the school has had students participate in the contest. Schools that participate are sent a lunar simulant and are challenged to grow seeds in it.

“In an eight-week period, everything has to be grown and collected,” Casselman said. “Then you analyze for two weeks.”

The students at Grace Lutheran chose to grow kale seeds in their lunar simulant. The simulant isn’t good soil to grow seeds in, so they had to add fertilizer.

“Our amendment was biodegradable wipes,” Casselman said.

The students hypothesized that the wipes would help the seeds thrive because they could retain moisture. They also chose them because they are one material astronauts bring on missions.

“(They) would lighten the load,” Casselman said. “They don’t have to bring an additional thing for the plants.”

While analyzing the seeds, the students found that the wipes they used hindered the growth of the kale, proving their initial hypothesis was false. Rather than be disappointed with the results, the students took it as a learning experience.

“That’s okay,” Casselman said. “If we would do the experiment again, we would decompose the wipes first.”

The students presented their findings with the group name The KaleMooners and on Jan. 14 were awarded Best of Show in the middle school category. Students from around the world participated in the contest.

“Over 25 states participated,” Casselman said. “There were 67 middle schools from across the world.”

The KaleMooners also received interest from Stukenholtz Laboratory in Twin Falls. Some of the lab’s scientists saw their presentation and asked if they could test the soil.

“It was a great partnership,” Casselman said. “It was fun.”

Casselman said she couldn’t do this project without Peggy Hess, the other coach. The two are proud of the work their students did.

“They did so much of this work outside school,” Casselman said. “They’re not afraid to work, and that’s a life skill that will carry them far.”