Rockets Lesson Sequence (HB Disney, Henson, Angelou)
Day 1
44 min on Newton’s Three Laws (Skateboard activity)
14 min on Engineering Design Process (Use handout and review the process)
1. Identify the Problem or Need Introduce the project.
1. Fire a bottle.
Discuss why it flew the way it did.
-Outside with pencils and paper, students describe how rockets flies
apply vocabulary and previous knowledge from gliders to describe
answer questions: what do we need to control in order for this rocket to fly best? how can we make this rocket go further?
-Back Inside: Brainstorm about how the rocket flies, applying previous vocab and knowledge.
-What do we need to do to control the flight? (should be thinking about pitch, roll, yaw, lift, drag, thrust, center of gravity, aspect ratio, mass etc)
Write this on board but have a student copy notes to refer to next day
Try to have the students connect it Newton’s three laws.
Build a sense of class unity (competing against the other classes, want to get best, most useful information)
-Discuss constraints of building (found on wiki page)
-Brainstorm possible materials to build rockets within constraints: BRING THEM INTO SCHOOL
2. Brainstormed rocket variables
As a class decided on the variables they wanted to do as a class and split into groups.
Teachers lead the discussion and then left the room for the last five minutes to let students make final decisions
3. Research the Need or Problem
Internet research on rockets in groups. Goal is to get background information for their introduction sections and start designing an experiment.
-Students need to be keeping a bibliography of sources
Fill out Experiment Proposal Sheet (made by project leaders in Disney) (this is sort of the beginning of their lab report work)
4. Select the Best Possible Solutions
Propose experiment to class - 2 mins, 1 person (class will help determine if the experiment is well thought out and will ellicit usable information). Changes can be made to experiment plan at this point.
Feedback, Revise experiment; make sure materials have been thought through
Repropose?
*Write the introduction sections to their lab report
*Write the materials and methods section of their lab report
5. Construct a prototype
Build the rockets they need to test
Create data sheet for experiments.
6. Test and evaluate the solution
Test rockets
Collect data (make quantitative and qualitative observations)
Make graphs
*Write results section
Make conclusions
Think about errors
*Write discussion section
7. Communicate the solution
Present key information to class
The Competition:
Using the class data, each pair will construct a new rocket, and enter their rocket in the school wide competition. The rocket that travels the farthest distance wins. Prize for individual winner and class that produces the individual winner.
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