Rocketry January 20 lesson plans

MRS. ALISSA JORDAN’S ROBOTICS/ROCKETRY LESSON PLANS

WEEK OF JANUARY 20, 2015

Monday:

Objective

Students investigate Newton’s third law of motion by designing and constructing rocket-powered racing cars.

In class- design and race cars.  We will add the following extensions to this, and the students will journal the questions.

Extensions

• Hold Rocket Racer drag races. Lay out a 3-meter-long course. The fastest car is the one that crosses the finish line first. Calculate racer average speed by timing start to finish with a stopwatch (e.g., four seconds to go three meters = 0.75 m/second or 2.7 km/h).

• Have students try multiple balloons for additional thrust. How will students design cars that are balanced with the extra load?

• Have students control the thrust of their balloons by inflating them to the same diameter each time. How can students ensure that the balloon is always the same?

• Using the same materials, what other devices can be created that demonstrate the action-reaction principle

Discussion

• Would it be a good idea for automobiles to be powered by rocket engines?

• How are the wheels on a rocket racer similar to and different from wheels on a regular automobile?

Tuesday- Friday:

Making a Video on Space or Creating an Internet Website on a Space Topic

Goal: To plan, design and produce (if equipment is available) a video or website on one of the science, technology or engineering topics listed under “Procedure”.

Key Concepts: Understanding some aspects of the science, technology and/or engineering involved in the construction

of the ISS and the science research that is conducted on the ISS; learning about ISS-related space careers; and video or website planning, design and production.

Subjects: Biology, chemistry, physics, Earth sciences, astronomy, technology, engineering, computer skills, careers, language arts (writing script for video or text for website).

Materials: video camera and editing equipment, or a computer for the website design.

Procedure: Planning a video or designing a website on an ISS-related topic requires students to become more deeply involved in understanding an aspect of the Space Station. Students work in teams of three or four to plan a video project or design a website on one of the space-related topics below. Links to websites

with images, drawings and resources are provided in the Resources Section, and at the Space Station Gallery website at: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station.