On the eve of visiting Kennedy Space Center, 6th graders launched their own rockets for a real-world application of the lessons they've learned studying earth and space.
With mostly clear skies and trajectory estimations, the 6th graders stepped onto the athletic field with the excitement of NASA astronauts. After months of studying earth and space, they were excited to apply real-world applications to what they had been learning in class.
The CDS 6th-grade rocketry project is an interdisciplinary unit between design technology, math, and science. The form of integration for this unit is cross over tooling, where students learn a skill or concept that can be used in multiple disciplines and apply it to understand a new issue or problem. Students used statistical analysis to research and test the relationship between the fin configuration of rockets and the distance it travels. They followed the design cycle to create a rocket that will launch successfully. They also implemented observational techniques to measure the angular distance and time of rocket flight.
With groups set up to measure trajectories and others launching their rockets, one by one the students stepped up to the launch pad, loaded their rockets, and turned the key for launch. Read in the student's words what they thought of this project.
"I really enjoyed it because of the experience! It was very fun and shocking in a good way, to learn these new experiences." Reid W.
"The reason I enjoyed the activity was to video the rockets in slo-mo. I learned that if you don’t do everything exactly correct It will blow up or won't launch." Rachel C.
"The experience was amazing! I had so much fun designing and building a rocket. I was disappointed that I didn't get to recover my rocket because it went into the lake." Braden M.
"I enjoyed launching model rockets because we got to experience the rockets launching right in front of us. Also, I liked that the math and sciences classes also got to go outside and measure the speed and angle." Saanvi P.
"I enjoyed the rocket launches because we got to measure the angle of the rockets. Also if you didn’t place a part the right way, then your rocket either exploded on the launch pad or it spun in circles in the sky then came down like a missile." Kay A.
"It was really fun to see how high our rockets would go compared to others. I really enjoyed it." Caroline C.
"I loved launching the rockets because it was cool to see how high the little rocket go!" Maddie P.
Thank you to middle school teachers Carrie Prieto (science), Caroline Broyles (design-tech), and Christina Haggard (math) for facilitating this project and to the students for their reflections.