6th Grade Rocket Day Plans

[VinceC]

Good Morning,

I am co-advisor of a relatively new High School Rocket Club - two yeas old, including covid time. We have a small enthusiastic group of students in the Club who have a Team registered for TARC 2022. We are certainly excited for this group of hard working students but with so much to get set up as a new Club, and to learn, where we land nobody knows! Although I am happy to report the Club has built a couple of rockets that meet this years contest design parameters and the Club is conducting completing test launches that are within reasonable variances of the target altitude and flight time targets. So there is hope.

Our School District is set up with a 3rd-6th "intermediate" grade School located adjacent to the High School building where we meet and launch our smaller rockets. The Club is currently working with the Principal of the School to create a rocket day/week for his 6th graders. There are approximately 90 sixth graders in this school. The Club wants this to be; a safe, fun, educational experience for the 6th graders, an opportunity for the Club to promote itself to the incoming 7th graders, and an opportunity for the Club to get some press in the local Community.

Our preliminary plans include having as many of the 6th grade students build an entry level rocket - all arranged so there will be minimal construction work and gluing time, and to get to launching as soon as possible. Of course everyone is looking forward to the launch days(s). It has yet to be ironed out whether the School will do this all in one big "Field Day" or during science and lunch periods. Whatever the case - it is to be a safe and fun time.

Behind the scenes we will work to follow the protocols and procedures outlined in our Club's Launch Manual including all NAR Safety Codes. We will have enough adult supervision to fill Launch Day Responsibilities and do everything we can to have a safe day. Safety first.

But besides being exposed to model rocketry itself and watching and hearing their rockets launch up into the big blue yonder, we do want this to be a fun event. Right now the "fun" topics being discussed, besides each student getting their own rocket, is that they would get a tee shirt with the Club and School logo. We are also looking into maybe having the Principal and maybe the a few of the teachers build a rocket to haev some kind of contest.

My questions to this Group includes:

Has anyone done anything like this before, and if so, would you be willing to share your experiences?

Does anyone have any experience or suggestions on how to make this type of event fun for the students?

Does anyone have any past experience of what can go wrong with this type of event?

Does anyone have any past experience of the positive results that came out of this type of event?

That is about it for now. I would like to thank any one who took the time to read this Post and who might take the time to respond.

Vince Christofora
Co-Advisor, Onteora Rocket Club

 

[dhbarr]

Good Morning,

I am co-advisor of a relatively new High School Rocket Club - two yeas old, including covid time. We have a small enthusiastic group of students in the Club who have a Team registered for TARC 2022. We are certainly excited for this group of hard working students but with so much to get set up as a new Club, and to learn, where we land nobody knows! Although I am happy to report the Club has built a couple of rockets that meet this years contest design parameters and the Club is conducting completing test launches that are within reasonable variances of the target altitude and flight time targets. So there is hope.

Our School District is set up with a 3rd-6th "intermediate" grade School located adjacent to the High School building where we meet and launch our smaller rockets. The Club is currently working with the Principal of the School to create a rocket day/week for his 6th graders. There are approximately 90 sixth graders in this school. The Club wants this to be; a safe, fun, educational experience for the 6th graders, an opportunity for the Club to promote itself to the incoming 7th graders, and an opportunity for the Club to get some press in the local Community.

Our preliminary plans include having as many of the 6th grade students build an entry level rocket - all arranged so there will be minimal construction work and gluing time, and to get to launching as soon as possible. Of course everyone is looking forward to the launch days(s). It has yet to be ironed out whether the School will do this all in one big "Field Day" or during science and lunch periods. Whatever the case - it is to be a safe and fun time.

Behind the scenes we will work to follow the protocols and procedures outlined in our Club's Launch Manual including all NAR Safety Codes. We will have enough adult supervision to fill Launch Day Responsibilities and do everything we can to have a safe day. Safety first.

But besides being exposed to model rocketry itself and watching and hearing their rockets launch up into the big blue yonder, we do want this to be a fun event. Right now the "fun" topics being discussed, besides each student getting their own rocket, is that they would get a tee shirt with the Club and School logo. We are also looking into maybe having the Principal and maybe the a few of the teachers build a rocket to haev some kind of contest.

My questions to this Group includes:

Has anyone done anything like this before, and if so, would you be willing to share your experiences?

Does anyone have any experience or suggestions on how to make this type of event fun for the students?

Does anyone have any past experience of what can go wrong with this type of event?

Does anyone have any past experience of the positive results that came out of this type of event?

That is about it for now. I would like to thank any one who took the time to read this Post and who might take the time to respond.

Vince Christofora
Co-Advisor, Onteora Rocket Club

Clearly delineating the flight line from the spectator area is absolutely critical.

A couple of cones usually doesn't do it, especially after the kids start getting excited.

 

[the random rocketer]

Get extra igniters. The older Estes igniters with the white tips are notorious for not lighting the motors. Estes has some nice bulk packs of rockets. For a little more skilled students. BMS has a School Rocket for $5.95 per unit.

 

[Grog6]

As a sixth grader I managed to use both a firecracker and a shadow to determine the height of a model rocket. We filmed the launch and were able to get the velocity of the boost phase, and the timing between the flash and report, as well as the shadow of the rocket in flight, to get the 1100 foot peak altitude.One of my neighbors taught me how to do trig; I already knew how to use a slide rule. Watch out for the kids like me, lol.

 

[fyrwrxz]

As a sixth grader I managed to use both a firecracker and a shadow to determine the height of a model rocket. We filmed the launch and were able to get the velocity of the boost phase, and the timing between the flash and report, as well as the shadow of the rocket in flight, to get the 1100 foot peak altitude.One of my neighbors taught me how to do trig; I already knew how to use a slide rule. Watch out for the kids like me, lol.

Please, please have children...

 

[fyrwrxz]

Vince, all the above and then some. Make sure you have parents on board during the rocket construction. 6th grade should have the motor skills. I use the "Nexus" from modelrockets.com that snap together (streamer version) but they are more spendy than the BMS bird. My 5yo granddaughter got one up at LDRS40 w/a little help with the directions from Grumpa. Felt tip pens/stickers to decorate. There are innumerable links to NASA for educational materials and ideas. Np blackboard physics, they moan, sleep or pass notes. All they really want is the whoosh/pop of a rocket they made. Maybe you get one out of fifty. We need new blood. Cheers to you and carry on. Straight smoke and good chutes!