As I mentioned in the previous post I am involved in a rocket class at the NYA. I worked with a co-worker of mine, a physics masters student working at JPL, and a teacher at NYA to develop this class from December-February. We planned out the class week-by-week and came up with demonstrations and projects for the students. This class is not meant to be a lecture-type, it is supposed to be more hands-on and project based.
We are now in coming on the 5th week and the class is going great! It is difficult fitting everything in with only one hour a week but we are doing our best. We are not holding to the original schedule, but we figured this first year would just be a learning experience. So far we have done:
Week 1: Water Rocket Introduction
This is an excellent way to introduce students to rockets. All you need is a soda bottle, water, a rubber stopper, a bike pump with a pin (the type used for a basketball), straws and some wood to make a stand. For the first week we had the students all put the same amount of water in and just get a feel for how they work. Check out the video below. We spent about a half hour in the beginning lecturing about rockets, but we got a glimpse of how difficult it is to hold their attention at 6 o'clock at night after a full day of school and homework!
Week 2: Solid vs. Liquid Propellants
I missed this week so I won't have much to say. My co-worker gave a lecture with some pictures showing real rockets and the difference between solids and liquids. In addition, he gave a briefing intro to space and orbit. From what I understand it was extremely difficult to hold their attention especially when they were sitting in the computer room. That was it, no more lecturing for more than 5 minutes! After the talk the students decked out their water rockets with fins and nose cones. They were allowed to do any size they felt and had to start thinking about the tradeoffs of using different designs. We had some really fancy water rockets by the end of the day.
Week 3: Water Rocket Continuation
I wanted to utilize the water rocket for this class to teach about two things we do in industry on a regular basis, trade studies and optimization. We had three water rockets; one with fins and a nose cone, one with a nose cone and no fins, and one with no fins and no nose cone. With these three different designs we were going to run each of them at 3 different water levels to see which design was optimal at each water level. The trade off for the nose cone was aerodynamics vs. weight and for the fins was stability vs. weight. The students measured the height of the rocket with a protractor gun. Because they didn't know sine and cosine yet we just used the angle as an indication of the height. We were able to get through this lesson and the data showed some interesting results! Below is the graph we came up with.
It worked out so nicely! You can see that at every water level the rocket with no nose cone or fins went the highest. When you add a nose cone and/or fins any benefit they may add is canceled out and actually hindered by their weight. In addition, you will notice that 1 L seems to be the best option for what we tested. What do you think the optimal water level is?
Week 4: Introduction to hobby motors and hobby rocket kit
We started getting the students acquainted with the kits they will be using and the engines that will power their rockets. We went through the engine designations and touched on what thrust and total impulse are. Thrust is the measure of the force the rocket provides to lift itself off the ground and total impulse is the measure of the rocket engine's thrust multiplied by the total time it burns. We lit a small engine on the ground to give the students a little show. That thing was a site to see! After that the students got to open their rocket kits and start dry fitting the pieces together. I am looking forward to building these hobby rockets and flying them.
We are now in coming on the 5th week and the class is going great! It is difficult fitting everything in with only one hour a week but we are doing our best. We are not holding to the original schedule, but we figured this first year would just be a learning experience. So far we have done:
Week 1: Water Rocket Introduction
This is an excellent way to introduce students to rockets. All you need is a soda bottle, water, a rubber stopper, a bike pump with a pin (the type used for a basketball), straws and some wood to make a stand. For the first week we had the students all put the same amount of water in and just get a feel for how they work. Check out the video below. We spent about a half hour in the beginning lecturing about rockets, but we got a glimpse of how difficult it is to hold their attention at 6 o'clock at night after a full day of school and homework!
Week 2: Solid vs. Liquid Propellants
I missed this week so I won't have much to say. My co-worker gave a lecture with some pictures showing real rockets and the difference between solids and liquids. In addition, he gave a briefing intro to space and orbit. From what I understand it was extremely difficult to hold their attention especially when they were sitting in the computer room. That was it, no more lecturing for more than 5 minutes! After the talk the students decked out their water rockets with fins and nose cones. They were allowed to do any size they felt and had to start thinking about the tradeoffs of using different designs. We had some really fancy water rockets by the end of the day.
Week 3: Water Rocket Continuation
I wanted to utilize the water rocket for this class to teach about two things we do in industry on a regular basis, trade studies and optimization. We had three water rockets; one with fins and a nose cone, one with a nose cone and no fins, and one with no fins and no nose cone. With these three different designs we were going to run each of them at 3 different water levels to see which design was optimal at each water level. The trade off for the nose cone was aerodynamics vs. weight and for the fins was stability vs. weight. The students measured the height of the rocket with a protractor gun. Because they didn't know sine and cosine yet we just used the angle as an indication of the height. We were able to get through this lesson and the data showed some interesting results! Below is the graph we came up with.
Week 4: Introduction to hobby motors and hobby rocket kit
We started getting the students acquainted with the kits they will be using and the engines that will power their rockets. We went through the engine designations and touched on what thrust and total impulse are. Thrust is the measure of the force the rocket provides to lift itself off the ground and total impulse is the measure of the rocket engine's thrust multiplied by the total time it burns. We lit a small engine on the ground to give the students a little show. That thing was a site to see! After that the students got to open their rocket kits and start dry fitting the pieces together. I am looking forward to building these hobby rockets and flying them.
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