HELP!! There are 5th Graders in the walls!

[Pem Tech]

Well, not exactly in the walls, but there are 5th graders involved.

I received this email today:
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Hey there,

My name is (Name Removed) and I am the director of the brand new Extended Day Program at Crestwood Elementary in North Little Rock. We try each semester to come up with new and exciting things for our children in the program to learn.
This semester we would love to have someone come and teach our kids once a week about rocketry. This would need to be either on a nine week basis or an eighteen week basis. The same person would not necessarily need to come, but we would love to have several come throughout the time to teach our kids.
Right now we are wanting to start the program next Thursday, January 13, 2011 from 5:00 to 5:30. A number that you can reach me at is: ********** or sometimes during the day you can catch me at the school. That number is **********.

Thanks so much for your consideration!
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HELP!! What do I do??? Where do I start??
I haven't run a rocketry education program since the 80's and that was once and with High School kids. This is a great opportunity to teach, like I wanted to so many years ago, and maybe turn on the light in a few heads, but I am clueless as to where to start and what to do.

Trudy has made some good suggestions but I would like to hear from some of you educators out there.

Can ya' help a brotha' out???

 

[ScrapDaddy]

Can i sign up?

 

[edwinshap1]

check out the apogee rockets youtube channel. Tim does a 5 part lecture to kids about rocketry (much of which i assume goes way over the kids heads), but you could figure out where to start from that

 

[bandman444]

My favorite style of learning first starts with a demo.

Reason being is that the students won't learn unless they want to learn.

Cheerio

 

[eggplant]

My favorite style of learning first starts with a demo.

Reason being is that the students won't learn unless they want to learn.

Cheerio

Yeah. You should find the biggest rocket possible that will impress them a lot, and then buy an educator kit off of hobbylinc: https://hobbylinc.com/htm/est/est1755.htm

 

[bandman444]

Not even College students need a demo thats big and mighty. If theyve never seen a rocket launch an A-E motor will lock them in.

I got permission to launch an Estes E2X on an "A" on campus when teaching a middle school workshop. They now make up almost half of my High School rocketry team!

 

[eggplant]

I didn't mean big and mighty, just something really impressive. We all know about the 5th grade attention span...

 

[Pippen]

Layne, Jim Flis and others have loads of ideas in the TRF archives. Usually they were on the Events, Coffeehouse, or LP forums.

Also, if you're concerned about where a 5th grader might be at you might want to check out the instructions for the Fliskits Thing-a-ma-jig. We worked through those instructions specifically to catch those little things that kids without building experience would benefit from.

Here are a few threads:
https://www.rocketryforumarchive.com/showthread.php?t=17353&highlight=program

https://www.rocketryforumarchive.com/showthread.php?t=26439&highlight=program

https://www.rocketryforumarchive.com/showthread.php?t=23880&highlight=program

 

[eugenefl]

I didn't mean big and mighty, just something really impressive. We all know about the 5th grade attention span...

An Art Applewhite saucer with a 29mm MMT outta do the trick. It's small and a very low altitude flyer. Throw an F20 White Lightning in there (or the smallest recommended motor in a WL formula) and it'll make a lot of smoke and noise. Heck, whenever I fly mine at a club launch it gets lots of attention. Maybe it's cause everyone gets to enjoy the full burn of the motor within eyesight. Bring large rockets for static display and supplement the classroom start with an HPR video.

Best of luck!

 

[Pem Tech]

Thanks everyone!
We'll see what happens...

 

[jflis]

Layne,

First, congrats and good luck As I've mentioned many, many times over the years, you will be doing something that you may remember for months or years. These kids will remember this for a LIFETIME. So, time well spent

A 9 or 18 week program can allow you all sorts of freedom to dig pretty much as deep as you want. I often do 7 week programs with the Boys & Girls Club (2 hours a week for 7 weeks). In that time I break the sessions up like this:

• Week 1: begin 1st of 2 rockets and discuss basic rocketry terms. also show-n-tell many rockets while building
• Week 2: Finish rocket assembly. I then invite the kids to bring their rockets home to paint (finish) after giving some very basic finishing techinques. I encourage this as it encourages the kids to do some work on their own and also alows them to really express and explore their own imaginations.
• Week 3: Launch (friends and family invited).
• Week 4: Lecture - A full 2 hours of lecture (well, broken up with trivia, puzzles and such to keep their attention). We go over the basics of stability and hints on more advanced topics (grain direction, drag, etc - geared towards their age and understanding)
• Week 5: Begin 2nd rocket, a bit more challenging but still a beginner kit
• Week 6: Finish 2nd rocket and they again take them home to finish
• Week 7: final launch

Other than stability and some basic info on drag I tend to stay away from hard science with the first/early groups. If they show a real interest they will be back for more advanced rockets and will be ready for more advanced topics. Hit them with hard science too soon and you can loose them quick.

A demo launch and opening discussion can be a good thing. Long experience tells me to fly only those rockets with a high reliability rate. For example, for launch demo's to students and admin I don't fly clusters or multi-stage. I stay away from rockets that weather cock and do my best to stay away from anything that has a high risk of getting lost (no Alpha's on D motors, for example). The point is to impress, not startle. Unstable or unexpected flights concern admin as well as parents. Lost rockets or crashing rockets concern students. Keep it all on the up-beat side of the program. The rest will follow...

I hope this helps. Please let's keep this discussion going as it can be of value to anyone looking to start or enhance a program. Also, feel free to contact me off line should you want to get deeper into this.

Good luck and keep us posted!
jim

 

[jflis]

One more thing (very important to me) that I would like to add...

When building rockets and then launching them I am very much a "let the kids do it".

For example, when doing the launch I explain everything but let them do the work. Something like this:

First, I gather them all up and explain that my next statement is the most important and they must listen to this, even if they choose to not listen to other things. I explain that I will tell them ONE TIME how do to each step to prepare their rocket. If the LISTEN they will know how to do it. If they do not know how to do it then they were NOT listening and it is not my problem. It is a very hardball approach, and may not be right for you, but after the number of kids I see each week, well, they're GONNA listen... LOL Said with a knowing smile, I actually have very good luck with this technique and the parents absolutely love it...

Ok, after that I go through each step of preping their rocket. For example, I will show them a motor and explain all of the exterior parts (showing them the nozzle). I will then explain the igniter and the plug. I will then show them how they all go together. I THEN take it all apart. NO ONE gets it done FOR them. They have to do it themselves. AFTER I show them, I then pass out the material.

Ditto for the parachute. Also, be sure to tell them, as you are folding the parachute (for example) to NOT DO IT. Explain to them that you want them to WATCH and LISTEN first and they can't do that if they are trying to fold while you are trying to show them. This is a big help for all aspect of teaching rocketry construction and launch prep.

I also let them put the model on the pad, hook up the leads and run the controller, launch and recover their rockets. I'm just there to observe (and explain). Bottom line is, other than hearing words and seeing you demo steps, THEY DO THE ENTIRE LAUNCH THEMSELVES and would then be able to do it again on their own should they choose to (assuming they get the launch equipment).

whew! Sorry so long winded... LOL

 

[gagreen]

take alot of king kraken kits in then tell them they have 2 hours to finish the rocket build or they have to repeat 5th grade....

 

[Zeus-cat]

Dress up like a nun and carry a wooden ruler. I always paid attention when the nuns taught a class!!!

 

[Bill P]

Dress up like a nun and carry a wooden ruler. I always paid attention when the nuns taught a class!!!

Wooden scales with that durn metal strip. I have scars on my poor knuckles.



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