Classroom Activities

After forming the teams and identifying the Mission Specialists and Flight Engineers for each team, we start the discussion with an introduction to the parts of a rocket and the phases of a rocket flight. In particular, we discuss

1. What makes one rocket fly higher than another rocket?
2. Why do rockets have fins?
3. What is the lift-off weight of a rocket?
4. What is the maximum lift-off weight of a rocket engine?
5. What is the secret to building a rocket that flies the highest without breaking the egg?
6. The Rocket Safety Code from the National Association of Rocketry (NAR)

Classroom Activities

Since we are trying to make the rocket go as high as possible, we need to know what parts of the rocket effect its flight the most. Generally, a rocket will fly the highest if it flies straight as an arrow and is very light. The fins control how straight a rocket flies, so we have to make sure that they are perpendicular to the rocket body and are spaced evenly around the rocket body. The two Flight Engineers on each team must make sure that the fins are correctly assembled on the rocket. The Flight Engineers also have to be very careful when they glue the parts of the rocket together. If they use too much glue, then the rocket will be heavy and not flight as high. If they use to little glue, then the rocket may fall apart in flight, and the egg will certainly be scrambled! After discussing the rocket's flight, we take a little trip on a rocket to see how it flies.

Classroom Activities

In order to control the weight of the rocket's payload, the Mission Specialists use a Payload Calculator. The Mission Specialists use the Payload Calculator to record the weight of all the parts of the rocket. The Mission Specialists can change the lift-off weight of the rocket by carefully selecting the materials they use to cushion the egg in the payload section. They determine the weight of the materials used to cushion the egg using a balance. The Mission Specialists are responsible for building a cushion around the egg that will protect it during the flight and for keeping the weight of the cushion as small as possible. The Mission Specialists use a hard boiled egg as they design the cushion.

Classroom Activities

The Mission Specialists must also make sure the total lift-off weight of the rocket is less than the maximum lift-off weight. The maximum lift-off weight is determined by the type of engine used to fly the rocket. If the lift-off weight is greater than the maximum lift-off weight of the engine, then the rocket may not leave the launch pad, or it may rise a few feet in the air and then turn over a crash. In order to be certain that a rocket will fly safely, a rocket must always weigh less than the maximum lift-off weight of the engine.

Classroom Activities

Of course, the engine used in the rocket also influences how high the rocket flies. For this mission, all the rockets use the same type of engine - a B6-4. We learn a little about different engine types, what the numbers and letters mean, and approximately how high a rocket will fly with a given engine type.

The secret to building a rocket that flies the highest without breaking the egg is to carefully follow the assembly directions for the rocket kit.

Classroom Activities

For each step in the assembly process, the Flight Engineers should

1. Find all the parts for the step
2. Fit the parts together without any glue to make sure they fit together as shown in the diagram
3. If the pieces don't fit together, or they need to be trimmed, ask for help!
4. Only apply glue as shown in the diagram
5. Hold the glued pieces together for a few seconds to make sure the glue has set

Classroom Activities

Finally, there are some safety rules that all the teams must follow whenever they fly model rockets. The National Association of Rocketry has created a set of rules called the Model Rocket Safety Code that we follow. Every student must show the NAR Model Rocket Safety Code to their parents and sign the Model Rocket Safety Code form before they can participate in any of the launch activities for this mission.

Launch Day Activites

In the third class period, we talk about

1. How do we pack the parachute in the rocket?
2. Safety rules for the flight range
3. How do we measure the altitude of our rocket?

Launch Day Activities

Each team is given a raw quail egg to pack into the payload section of their rocket using the material they selected in the previous class periods. Each team also completes a Flight Data Sheet for this mission. They record the current weather conditions that might effect the flight, make a prediction for the apogee, or peak altitude, of their rocket, and weigh their rocket one last time to make sure the rocket does not exceed the maximum lift-off weight for the rocket engine. Once the quail egg is safely in the payload, it is time to pack the parachute and review the launch safety procedures for the day.

Launch Day Activites

Before the parachute is folded and put inside the rocket body, a special material called "parachute wadding" must be inserted into the rocket body. The parachute wadding looks like single ply toilet paper, but it has a special chemical coating that prevents it from burning. The parachute wadding is placed between the rocket engine and the parachute to protect the parachute from the hot gases that come out of the top of the rocket engine. These gases are called the ejection charge, and they push the parachute and nose cone out of the rocket when the rocket reaches its peak altitude. Since the parachute is made of light weight plastic, it must be protected from these hot gasses, or it will melt before it leaves the rocket's body. After loosely packing six sheets of parachute wadding into the rocket's body, the Flight Engineers fold the parachute and place it in the rocket. The nose cone and payload sections are inserted in to the rocket body, and we are ready for launch!

Launch Day Activities

The flight range is divided into two areas. The launch area has the launch pad and a table that the students must stand behind in order to keep everyone a safe distance from the launch pad. Seventy-five feet from the launch stand is the recovery area for the rocket. Before each launch, the Mission Specialists for the team that is launching a rocket go to the recovery area and the Flight Engineers for that team stay at the launch area. The Flight Engineers check the rocket one last time, and then hand it to a parent, who inserts the rocket engine, places the rocket on the launch pad, and connects the ignition wires to the engine. When the range is clear, everyone shouts out the countdown...3....2...1...Ignition! The Flight Engineers also recover the rocket and bring it back to the launch area after the flight.

Launch Day Activites

The Mission Specialists in the recovery area, with a parent's help, measure and record the peak altitude, or apogee, of the rocket on the team's Flight Data Sheet. The Mission Specialists, or a parent, use an AltiTrak Altitude Finder to measure the altitude of the rocket. They also record other information about the launch conditions, as well as the condition of the quail egg after the rocket is recovered on the Flight Data Sheet.

Launch Day Activities

After all the rockets are launched and recovered, the students return to the classroom and we calculate the peak altitude of the rockets using the Altitude Calculator and record the condition of the quail egg for each team.