A RAINBOW unit based in Warfield has been eagerly waiting for an update on their Rocket Science Experiment, an initiative started by astronaut Tim Peake on board the International Space Station.

The 25 girls who form the 1st Warfield Rainbows have spent the past month excitedly watching two different sets of seeds grow, one sent from here on Earth and the other sent from space.

After monitoring the seeds’ progress at their base in Whitegrove Community Centre, the girls will find out which seeds are which on June 20.

Rainbow leader Carol Ellis said the experiment had inspired the girls to be even more green-fingered.

She said: “The girls have just been so excited. It is mostly schools who were sent seeds, for us to be chosen as a rainbow group is wonderful.

“They are just five to seven years’ old and their way of thinking, of whether the seeds are from Earth or space, is fantastic. They’ve had some great ideas, that the seeds on Earth might grow better because there’s more oxygen and they love watching them grow.

“The parents have been emailing me and phoning me telling me how excited the girls are when they’re talking about what they’ve been doing. They all just want to grow things and see it develop.

“They love Tim Peake, he’s so inspiring.”

One blue pack and one red pack of seeds were first planted on April 20 Rainbow unit to find out plant progress in scheme 1st Warfield Rainbows and (inset) the girls examining the seeds and they monitor them at their weekly meetings. One packet was taken to space on September 2, 2015 while the other remained on earth as a way of examining the effect on how the seeds develop under dif- ferent conditions.

So far the red packet has grown better, with the girls deciding the red packet must have stayed on earth, Ms Ellis said.