Week of January 12 lesson plans Rocketry

MRS. ALISSA JORDAN’S ROBOTICS/ROCKETRY LESSON PLANS

WEEK OF JANUARY 12, 2015

Monday:

Objective

To investigate Newton’s 3 law of motion.

In-class: We will finish presenting our Newton’s 3 laws of motion project.  We will discuss the current state of the space race up until 2011, and then I will assign the pop- rocket project.

Tuesday:

Objective

To investigate Newton’s third law of motion using thrust produced by falling water.

Description

Small student teams will construct water-propelled engines out of soft drink cans and investigate ways to increase the action-reaction thrust produced by water shooting out of holes punched in the can sides.

Wednesday-Friday:

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?