Stomp Rocket Fun
A delightful article! I love the fact students can use design and engineering skills to create a rocket that can be flown using such simple items such as PVC pipe, plastic pop bottles, maga... See More
A delightful article! I love the fact students can use design and engineering skills to create a rocket that can be flown using such simple items such as PVC pipe, plastic pop bottles, magazines, card stock and tape.
I used this with my middle school students and had them design the launcher as well. To make the task harder, I had a variety of materials from which they could choose to build with. Obviously there was the PVC pipe and plastic pop bottles, but added a variety of types of tape, plastic tubing, Dollar Store condiment bottles, clamps, corks and anything else I had laying around that theoretically they might use. By having them create the launcher as well, there was an added level of problem solving.
I was pretty proud of my students when they decided they wanted to do a scaled down version they could present at our Science night which is held indoors and the stomp rockets would be too dangerous. They decided to use straws, index cards and the Dollar Tree Condiment squeeze containers to create the same environment for learning with the need for less space. They were pretty proud of themselves when their station was a hit.
A video that was really helpful for building the launcher can be found at http://www.schooltube.com/video/662adf9acd55db2af523/How%20to%20Build%20a%20Simple%20Stomp%20Rocket%20Launcher A different launcher is found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiFqI_HbAZ8 and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMDnAIiWGmU
Rocket Exploration of Science Concepts
This very exciting article takes very simple materials and changes them into many, many science experiments that cover a plethora of science concepts. Detailed instructions and lesson plans... See More
This very exciting article takes very simple materials and changes them into many, many science experiments that cover a plethora of science concepts. Detailed instructions and lesson plans are included in the article. This is a must read for teachers who like rocketry and want to do engineering design activities!!