This activity uses a compressed air rocket launcher that can be made at home out of common plumbing parts. The students will create rockets with different shaped fins and cones. This activity can be used in a number of ways – younger students can decorate / pain their rockets prior to launch, KS3 students could experiment to see how far different shaped fins can launch a rocket under the same launch pressure and launch angle. KS4-5 students could use the experiment to apply SUVAT equations by taking measurements of their launch.
Instructions to build a compressed air rocket launcher and how to apply SUVAT equations to this activity can be found in:
Rønningen JE, Vestnes F, Sheth R, Råken M (2012) Sky-high science: building
rockets at school. Science in School 22: 36-41.
Dr Becca Wilson
Design by Nimbus.