Students patiently waited with their designs in hand as their Rocket Science teacher Ecil Miller prepped the air compressor for launching. Mallory and Jaliyah proudly described how they made their rockets. Materials included paper, duct tape, PVC pipe for the rocket mold, craft foam for the fins and of course, hot glue. They explained how you rolled the paper up over the PVC pipe with tape on one side and then slip it out and tape it together. More tape is used on the top of the rocket rather than a cone shaped top as a cone adds more weight than needed for paper rockets.
I noted the varied fin shapes and the girls explained that the shapes work for different reasons. The triangle fin, for example, is excellent for high speeds and the trapezoid is great for giving the rocket good stability and a smooth flight. Jensen used the tube fin which looks like small toilet paper rolls glued around the base of the rocket. According to Miller’s note, this is supposed to provide amazing stability and make the rocket fly incredibly straight.
Excitement filled the air as the students eagerly took turns launching their rockets. Most of the rockets went high into the air and came straight down; however, a few made it over the rooftop never to be seen again. Students were experimenting with different rocket lengths, and it was clear, the shorter rockets don’t go up nearly as high.
When back to the classroom, Miller asked, “why do you think the shorter rocket didn’t perform as well as the longer rockets?”
Dom said, “the short ones don’t have enough space for the air to push the rockets up.” His next creation was an extremely long rocket to see what it will do in the air.
When asked what he hopes the students will learn, Miler said he hopes they “take on a challenge of something they’ve never done before, piece it together, and enjoy the final results.”
Up next week: rockets with motors and more in-depth builds!