Sky High Science: Aeronautics Exploration with Grade 7

What makes rockets fly straight? What makes rockets fly far? Seventh-grade students were presented with these questions and challenged to design, construct, and test their own rockets as part of a recent hands-on STEM project.

In class with Makerspace teacher Ann Kohler, the students learned about scientific reactions and applied their understanding to the project. To begin, the students were broken up into teams and worked together to brainstorm ideas on how to build the rocket and its fundamental shapes and design elements. Once the idea was approved by Mrs. Kohler, the students gathered the necessary materials to start building the rocket using a 2-liter bottle.

Mrs. Kohler did instruct the students that the rocket must be decorated in a professional-looking manner. Each group had to follow a specific rubric; specifically, there had to be a pattern for the wings, a plan for the wing alignment and spacing; a cardboard cut-out, and a 3D-printed piece and vinyl cut. Once the rockets were fully constructed, Mrs. Kohler invited the students to test the rockets outside in the parking lot.

Now it was time for the fun part – take off! With the help of Art Department and Makerspace instructor Chris Buckley, each group filled their rocket with vinegar, baking soda, and connected it to a launch ramp with a tire pump for the air pressure, which provided the energy for the launch. One-by-one, each rocket was successfully launched into the air.

“The students truly had so much fun as building and launching rockets is just enormously enjoyable,” said Mrs. Kohler. “There was even a little competition among the groups as to which rocket would launch the highest.”