Rockets
Students learn about engineering and design principles by designing, building, launching, testing and redesigning their own rockets. (Grades: K-2, 3-5 or 6-8)
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3...2...1...Puff! (rocket stability)
Lesson
Students construct small indoor paper rockets, determine flight stability, and launch the rockets by blowing air through a drinking straw.
Grades: K-2 -
Heavy Lifting (launching with payloads)
Lesson
Students design and build balloon-powered rockets with which to launch a payload to the classroom ceiling.
Grades: K-2 -
Hero Engine (third law of motion)
Lesson
Students use the thrust produced by falling water to investigate Newton’s Third Law of Motion.
Grades: K-2 -
Launch Altitude Tracker
Lesson
Students construct a launch altitude tracker and use it, along with basic mathematics, to indirectly measure the altitude achieved by rockets.
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Newton Car (second law of motion)
Lesson
Students investigate the relationship among mass, acceleration and force, as described in Newton's Second Law of Motion.
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Paper Rockets - Basic
Lesson
Students design and construct simple, three-sided rockets.
Grades: K-2 -
Paper Rockets - Intermediate
Lesson
Students construct and launch paper rockets, evaluate their rockets' flight, and modify their designs to improve performance.
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Paper Rockets - Advanced
Lesson
Students design and construct advanced, high-powered paper rockets for specific flight missions.
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Rocket Launcher (for all paper rockets)
Lesson
Students create an air pressure launcher for use with their paper rockets.
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Water Rocket
Lesson
Student teams construct water rockets from empty two-liter soft drink bottles, and qualify their rockets for flight by conducting string tests.
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Water Rocket Launcher (teacher only)
Article
Instructions for building and operating a platform from which to launch water rockets used in student experiments.
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Wind Tunnel (performance tester)
Lesson
Students construct a wind tunnel to test the performance of paper rockets, and use data generated from the test to help them design better rockets.
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X-51 Project
Lesson
Students balancing science with technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), as they design, construct, test, and launch rockets using a real-world problem-solving simulation.