April 19, 2006

Blast Off a Rocket

Rocket science is about testing designs and making improvements. In this activity you'll first test a rocket engine, then build a rocket to go with it.

You'll Need

• Safety goggles
• 1 cup water
• Plastic 35-mm film canister (the kind with a lid that fits inside the canister's rim)
• 2-4 effervescing antacid tablets (such as Alka-Seltzer), broken in half
• 8 1/2" x 11" (22-cm x 28-cm) sheet of paper
• Packing tape
• Pencil or pen
• Poster board (or other heavy paper)
• Scissors

1. First, test your rocket engine. Go someplace wide open, like a parking lot, driveway, playground, or gymnasium. Put on your safety goggles to protect your eyes.
2. Pour water into the film canister until it's about one-third full.
3. Drop in one of the effervescing tablet halves and very quickly snap the lid onto the film canister. Set the canister upside down on the ground and stand back.
4. Watch the rocket engine blast off. Try to remember how high it went relative to a wall, tree, or house. Repeat steps 1-3 until you have a good idea of how high your rocket engine goes. Notice whether it goes straight up or takes a curve, and whether or not it always lands in the same spot.
5. Build a rocket body for your engine. Remove the lid from the film canister. Set the open end of the film canister about 1/2 inch (1 cm) from the short edge of the sheet of paper. Tape the paper's longer edge to the film canister, as shown.
6. Roll the film canister inside the paper to make a tube and tape it closed.
7. Use the poster board to make fins and a nose cone. You can design your own or you can use the patterns below. You'll need one nose cone and four fins. Cut out your designs and tape them onto the rocket.
8. Now follow steps 1-4 to load and launch your rocket! Does it fly higher or straighter than the engine alone did? How could you improve the design to make your rocket fly even higher or straighter?

Reprinted with permission from Exploring the Solar System: A History with 22 Activities by Mary Kay Carson. Published by Chicago Review Press, distributed by Independent Publishers Group (www.ipgbook.com). Copyright © 2006 by Mary Kay Carson.

Talk Back: Do you have any comments about this activity? Send them to us using the form below.

I have my parent's permission to submit this.
First name:		Age:
City:		State:	AK AL AR AZ CA CO CT DC DE FL GA HI IA ID IL IN KS KY LA MA MD ME MI MN MO MS MT NC ND NE NH NJ NM NV NY OH OK OR PA RI SC SD TN TX UT VA VT WA WI WV WY
E-mail:
Comment: