Lord Botetourt High School (LBHS) was recently selected to receive a NASA Moon Tree, a
unique opportunity to connect with space exploration. The sweetgum tree arrived to coincide
with the school’s celebration of “Moon Week” during the last week of October where students
engaged in educational activities centered around space, science, history, and the importance of
trees to the environment.
“We jump-started our moon festivities with Mr. Martin and our Air and Space Club,” Lord
Botetourt graduate – now science teacher – Caitlin Pannell shared last week. “They set up
telescopes the other week to view the super moon, Saturn, and a comet during the LB vs.
William Byrd football game. LBHS designated the entire last week of October as Moon Week,
which worked out wonderfully since it aligned with Halloween. Classes participated in a door
decorating contest revolving around the Moon Tree.”
Pannell applied for the tree in fall 2023 and learned the school would be receiving the tree in
August.
“It is a huge honor to be selected as a location for a Moon Tree and we really wanted to
celebrate,” Pannell continued. “I am always looking for opportunities for students to learn in new
and interesting ways and this seemed like a perfect fit for Botetourt.”
According to a NASA release from last week, its Office of STEM Engagement partnered with
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service to fly five species of tree seeds aboard
Artemis I as part of a national STEM Engagement and Conservation Education initiative. The
project builds on the legacy of the original moon trees, which were planted in the 1970s after
NASA astronaut Stuart Roosa orbited the moon with tree seeds in his kit.
Roosa, the command module pilot for 1971’s Apollo 14 mission and a former USDA Forest
Service smoke jumper, carried tree seeds into lunar orbit. The Apollo 14 Moon Trees were
grown into seedlings by the USDA Forest Service and eventually disseminated to national
monuments and dignitaries around the world, with a large number distributed as part of the
nation’s bicentennial event.
In a nod to the legacy of Apollo 14, and a celebration of the future of space exploration with
NASA’s Artemis Program, a “new generation” of Moon Tree seeds traveled into lunar orbit
aboard the Orion spacecraft in 2022. The seeds travelled thousands of miles beyond the moon,
spending about four weeks in space before returning to Earth.
The Artemis I Moon Trees, rooted in the legacy of the original Moon Trees flown by Roosa
during Apollo 14, journeyed 270,000 miles from Earth aboard the Orion spacecraft. A diverse
array of tree species, including sycamores, sweet gums, Douglas firs, loblolly pines, and giant
sequoias, were flown around the surface of the moon. The first batch of seedlings will ship to
almost 50 institutions across 48 contiguous U.S. states.
Some of the Lord Botetourt Moon Week door decoration concepts included: space exploration,
myths and legends about the moon, Greek mythology of Artemis and Orion (names of the
mission and ship the seeds went on), lunar phases, and moon references in music and pop
culture. Teachers incorporated moon themes into lessons such as reading stories about moon
myths in Spanish or analyzing data to see if there is a relationship between moon phases and
crimes– turns out there isn’t.
Through NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement (OSTEM) and NASA’s Artifact Module,
museums, universities, federal agencies, including NASA Field Centers, and K-12 serving
organizations were invited to apply for ownership of a Moon Tree seedling.
“The biggest part of the application was setting up a plan to incorporate the Moon Tree in a
variety of learning experiences for the school,” said Pannell. “I feel like we did a good job with
that at Lord Botetourt; a lot of teachers got on board with the theme.
“I also created mini-STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Math) stations for teachers to
bring classes to throughout the week which included tree identification, using natural materials in
art, crater formation, egg drop contests, nocturnal animals, and engineering structures,” Pannell
added. “We even had a Moon Walk dance competition during lunch. The entire school really got
on board with the theme, and it has inspired students to be curious and creative. We will also be
doing some STEM activities with our elementary students in the spring involving the Moon
Tree.”
The sweet gum tree has been planted at the school and a celebration in welcoming the Moon
Tree to Botetourt is planned for spring 2025.
Pannell previously taught at William Byrd High School, where she met her husband, James, an
instructor and coach. She teaches Biology and Earth Science, mainly to freshmen and
sophomores at LBHS.
