Maine Missile Math & Science Club Goes to School

[SAC of MMMSClub]

Worked with kids at a local middle school to do an egg launch.

Three pads, 100 rockets, lots of fun. Got to use the NAR and Club banner. Pic #4 what's wrong with this picture, it flew kinda.

[KennB]

Scott,

Nice set up. I especially like the ropes to limit wandering over the wires.

What mods did you make to attach the pad numbers to the posts? Never mind, I took a closer look and saw the second set of posts.

Streamers on the way up;that must have made for some interesting flights.

Kenn

[Sully]

Streamers on the way up;that must have made for some interesting flights.

Depends on the material: flaming crepe paper streamers might be cool for a night launch!

[SAC of MMMSClub]

If I recall it was a prang due to.....C6-5 motor on a C6-3 flight. Many great launches with last second recovery deployment.

Students are allowed to make changes to the rocket.
They can change the Fins, more fins, bigger fins, smaller fins, weird fins, forward fins. Lingth of the rocket longer or shorter. All of the changes affect the way the rocket flys.
Not to mention the amount of tempera paint, sopping wet rockets coated in glitter it is a wonder any get off the pad(some did NOT)
Well if this is the first rocket you are building and you change parts of the rocket and its handling what have you learned????

NOTHING other that eggs break.

The teachers are doing a great thing by having them build rockets, but the scale of the whole sixth grade building rockets, 100 plus rockets, and varying levels of teacher interest and student ability. Make any results oriented learning mute, it really becomes an end of year tradition, fun time, and that is cool and fun, but not real educational as they never really do a
post-mortum on the rocket. Why did it do that?
Some kids are also just as happy to throw the rocket away as it is coated in raw egg, they built it in two days and flew it and now toss it, as they never really had any "skin" in the game.

I wish more for the kids.

[dlazarus6660]

I rather fly there, the bathroom is closer!

[JStarStar]

If I recall it was a prang due to.....C6-5 motor on a C6-3 flight. Many great launches with last second recovery deployment.

Students are allowed to make changes to the rocket.
They can change the Fins, more fins, bigger fins, smaller fins, weird fins, forward fins. Lingth of the rocket longer or shorter. All of the changes affect the way the rocket flys.
Not to mention the amount of tempera paint, sopping wet rockets coated in glitter it is a wonder any get off the pad(some did NOT)
Well if this is the first rocket you are building and you change parts of the rocket and its handling what have you learned????

NOTHING other that eggs break.

The teachers are doing a great thing by having them build rockets, but the scale of the whole sixth grade building rockets, 100 plus rockets, and varying levels of teacher interest and student ability. Make any results oriented learning mute, it really becomes an end of year tradition, fun time, and that is cool and fun, but not real educational as they never really do a
post-mortum on the rocket. Why did it do that?
Some kids are also just as happy to throw the rocket away as it is coated in raw egg, they built it in two days and flew it and now toss it, as they never really had any "skin" in the game.

I wish more for the kids.

It would probably be a much more valid learning experience if the kids were required to build one model pretty much according to instructions, then a second model with their intended modifications and then compare how the two perform.

Pretty much all of the modifications described -- attaching streamers, coating the surface with glitter, etc etc. -- would have adverse effects on rocket performance; the only question would be HOW adverse.

Of the models pictured, I suppose the model at the top of the photo MIGHT show some performance improvement -- shortening the body tube would reduce overall rocket weight, and stability is rarely a problem with egglofters due to the big heavy egg in the nose -- but pretty much all the others are not going to fly as high.

I've flown Couriers with eggs several times and they fly OK on (Estes) C6-5s if built mostly to stock specs. I would guess with exterior streamers or other drag-inducing modifications they would go a lot lower and scrambled eggs could be a very likely outcome.