STRAW ROCKET - North Carolina Science Festival
STRAW ROCKET - North Carolina Science Festival
STRAW ROCKET - North Carolina Science Festival
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
AFTERSCHOOL<br />
Big Idea<br />
Make a rocket!<br />
Time<br />
30–45 minutes<br />
You will need<br />
• empty plastic bottles<br />
• two different sizes of straws<br />
(wider and thinner)<br />
• clay or Play-Dough<br />
Recommended<br />
• tape<br />
• scissors<br />
• paper or index cards<br />
• ribbon<br />
Why We love it<br />
Flight is something that<br />
never gets old! This activity is<br />
something new that a lot of our<br />
students have not yet built and it<br />
gives them a chance to have fun<br />
experimenting and testing out<br />
their own ideas.<br />
Straw Rocket<br />
Set It Up<br />
Make sure that you have straws of two different widths<br />
that fit smoothly over each other. It’s a good idea to build<br />
your own rocket launcher ahead of time so younger kids<br />
can see a finished product. It also gives you a chance to<br />
understand the instructions and anticipate issues kids<br />
may face when building their own rockets. Depending<br />
on your space, you may want to create a testing zone<br />
or runway where students can safely launch their straw<br />
rockets. If you have tall ceilings or space outdoors, you<br />
could hang string or yarn, like a clothesline, for students<br />
to try to launch their straw rockets over.<br />
It’s showtime<br />
Let your group know that today’s challenge is to make a<br />
rocket that is launched using air power. Ask the group:<br />
What are some examples of objects that are powered<br />
by air The students may say things like windmills,<br />
sailboats, wind turbines, paper airplanes and gliders.<br />
Hold up an empty bottle and ask: what is inside the<br />
bottle The students might say nothing, or it’s empty.<br />
Guide them to think of air. The bottle may look empty,<br />
but it is full of air! Then ask: What would happen to the<br />
air inside if I were to squish the bottle Give the group a<br />
few minutes to share their ideas. When you squeeze the<br />
bottle some air will be pushed out of the bottle. Then ask<br />
the group: What if there was only a small opening for<br />
the air to leave the bottle Give the group a few minutes<br />
to share their ideas and predictions. Let the group know<br />
that the empty bottles will be the air powered engines<br />
for their rockets today.<br />
Guide the group through making their rockets,<br />
according to the instructions. It’s important that the<br />
rocket launcher is airtight. If kids are having a problem<br />
getting their rockets to launch, check the following:<br />
• Are there any holes or gaps in the seal between the<br />
clay and the bottle or the clay and the straw<br />
• Is the wide straw caught in the clay covering the<br />
bottle
It’s Showtime Cont’d<br />
Give the group time to experiment with and test their rockets. Have kids experiment<br />
to see how far and high they can get their rockets to go. Time permitting, allow<br />
students to make alterations to their rockets, like adding fins or wings to the outer<br />
straw. Encourage them to test their ideas and observe how those changes affect the<br />
rockets’ flight. Remind them to change one thing at a time in order to test different<br />
variables.<br />
As the designs progress you may need to ask open-ended questions or suggest<br />
different challenges to keep groups on task, like:<br />
• Can your straw rocket hit a target<br />
• How could you make your bottle launch the straw rocket farther Or higher<br />
• What could you do to make your straw rocket more accurate or fly more<br />
smoothly<br />
Be sure to give the group a 5 minute and 1 minute warning before you want them to<br />
stop experimenting. When the groups have finished experimenting and cleaned up,<br />
take a few minutes to discuss what they found to work well in their various designs<br />
and what did not work well. Ask them to explain their answers.<br />
Conclude this lesson by talking about the similarities and differences between the<br />
straw rockets and what they know about real rockets. Ask the group: Are the straw<br />
rockets that you designed anything like a real rocket What is similar or different<br />
Do you think real rockets work the same way as your straw rockets Give the group<br />
a few minutes to share their ideas. Rockets launched into space and the straw<br />
rockets the group experimented with today may not seem very similar, but they<br />
both encounter and need to overcome the same forces in order to work. A rocket<br />
that is launched into space doesn’t use air, but rather a very powerful combustible<br />
fuel, which is why you see fire coming from beneath it. That fuel, however, does the<br />
same thing that the blast of air does for the straw rocket – it creates a very important<br />
force needed for flight called thrust. Thrust is what pushes the rocket. In order for<br />
something to fly, like a rocket, there must be enough thrust to overcome its’ weight<br />
and the force of gravity pushing down on it.<br />
Why is This <strong>Science</strong><br />
This is aerospace engineering! Not only are we achieving something grand like flight<br />
but we are learning about forces and motion.<br />
When you squeeze the plastic bottle, the air inside the bottle is pushed into the<br />
straws. Since the top of the wide straw is plugged up, the air has no place to go, so the<br />
air pressure launches the straw into the air. For rockets that are launched into space<br />
or low-earth orbit, igniting massive amounts of fuel creates this pushing force. For<br />
both kinds of rockets, the pushing force has to be strong enough to overcome gravity<br />
in order to launch the rocket. Aiming the rockets is a challenge in real life just as it is<br />
for the straw rockets, and aerospace engineers use both mathematics and physics to<br />
help them aim, guide, and time the launches correctly.
The Morehead Twist<br />
• Try taping fins and/or nose cones cut from index cards to your straws. Do you<br />
notice any changes in how your rocket flies<br />
• Use ribbons to create streamers on your rocket.<br />
• Try using bigger bottles to see if you can get your straws to go farther.<br />
• Set up an air “obstacle course” to see if students can get their straws to land in or<br />
go through hula hoops.<br />
• Use masking tape to create targets on the floor or walls.<br />
• Think bigger! Use paper towel rolls and tubing to make stomp rockets!<br />
Differentiation<br />
Grades K – 1<br />
It can be difficult for this age group to make the connection between the clay and<br />
the soda bottle airtight, so help may be necessary. Having the clay at the end of<br />
the straw can sometimes be too heavy — we like to have tape as an alternative.<br />
Grades 2 – 3<br />
We like to show them how to build the bottle, but let<br />
them figure out how to make the rocket.<br />
Grades 4 – 5<br />
Depending on your group, we like to tell them what they are trying to build,<br />
give them the supplies and let them go for it without too much direction.<br />
Additional Information<br />
This pairs well with our Thorp <strong>Science</strong> Night activities “Paper Flying Machines” and<br />
“Stomp Rockets”.<br />
Sources & Links<br />
Dragonfly TV<br />
The Exploratorium<br />
Howtosmile.org<br />
proudly produced by<br />
AFTERSCHOOL<br />
© 2013, The University of <strong>North</strong> <strong>Carolina</strong> at Chapel Hill. All rights reserved.<br />
Permission is granted to duplicate for educational purposes only.
AFTERSCHOOL<br />
Supplies<br />
• empty plastic bottles<br />
• two different sizes of straws<br />
(wider and thinner)<br />
• clay or Play-Dough<br />
Recommended<br />
• tape<br />
• scissors<br />
• paper or index cards<br />
• ribbon<br />
Straw Rocket<br />
Instructions<br />
What to Do<br />
1. Build a rocket launcher:<br />
• Hold a thin straw about an inch down into the<br />
mouth of the bottle.<br />
• Wrap a ball of clay about the size of a quarter<br />
around the bottle opening, sealing it tightly<br />
around the straw and the bottle so no air can<br />
escape.<br />
• Now squeeze the bottle. Do you feel air coming<br />
out of the top of the straw<br />
2. Build a rocket. Seal up one end of a wide straw with a<br />
small ball of clay. Place the open end of the the straw<br />
over the thinner straw in the rocket launcher.<br />
3. Blast off! Aim the straws AWAY from any hazards<br />
or people. Wrap both hands around the bottle and<br />
squeeze, collapsing the bottle quickly. Your rocket<br />
should fly through the air. If the rocket doesn’t<br />
launch, practice squeezing the bottle harder and<br />
check that there are no holes in the clay.<br />
4. Design more rockets. Make different rockets by<br />
attaching wings and tails to other wide straws. Use<br />
construction paper, string or bits of streamers. Test<br />
the rockets. Which ones flew the farthest Did any<br />
curve in the air How did your additions change the<br />
way they flew<br />
Safety tip!<br />
Always point your rocket AWAY from people before<br />
launching it!<br />
© 2013, The University of <strong>North</strong> <strong>Carolina</strong> at Chapel Hill. All rights reserved.<br />
Permission is granted to duplicate for educational purposes only.