Water Rocket Design and Lesson Thesis

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Therefore, it will be the teacher's responsibility to streamline the use of a standard bike pump and the erection of a launch tube, ensuring that this common denominator does not impact differently any group's experimental design.

Using a wide open space such as a soccer field which is not in the direct proximity of any structures or populated areas, groups could affix their respective design to the launch tube and retain it by tethering it to a length of twine. The student selected as the launch captain for each group would stand at a distance of at least 20 feet with the free end of the string at hand while another student from the group, selected as Ground Control, would activate the bike pump. Upon the point at which the compressed air reaches the top of the water bottle and pressure begins to build, the launch captain would release the string, providing freedom for the launch. Launches will be evaluated according to an array of different flight characteristics such as duration, height, stability and perceived velocity.

Lesson Plan:

The lesson plan surrounding this experimental approach is accessible to most demographics, most particularly given that there are few price-based limitations. The materials required cost little money and are accessible to most households. The only limitation will concern the age of students participating. Generally speaking, there are safety considerations that are inherent to this process and these denote that students under the age of 9 or 10 are likely to be too young. This means that grade 5 is likely to be earliest age at which the safety considerations will allow participation. The examination of several key scientific principles such as Newton's Third Law of Motion*, indicates that the experiment is probably most constructive for those in middle school or early high school who are just becoming familiar with these concepts.

The materials required for each group are a two liter soda bottle and materials such as rubber, foam and non-corrosive glue for design variation.

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The teacher should provide an air pump and launching tube. This denotes the objective for the students to learn concepts of aeronautics and fuel compression while also examining the concepts of experimental design and variable control. The procedure would instigate the latter outcome by pitting groups against one another and asking each group to project its flight expectations based on specific design conditions. Success of each launch would be gauged on its fulfillment of these expectations. Parallels or deviations from these expectations would be subject to student assessment for identification of the factors that caused failure or success.

Summary/Self-Evaluation:

For the instructor, the success of the program would be self-evident. Students tend almost universally to enjoy participation in such projects, with the launch day marking an exciting and fun alternative to traditional classroom time. The goals of the project and the evaluation of these goals can vary based on the age and ability of the student body. As a source provided by NASA indicates, "middle grade students can manipulate and control variables, see their hypotheses verified or refuted, and graph their findings. High school students experience the nature of science at its best. They can document their abilities with the following concepts: inertia, gravity, air resistance, Newton's laws of motion, acceleration, relationships between work and energy or impulse and momentum, projectile motion, freefall calculations, internal and external ballistics, and the practice of true engineering." (Mazza, 1) This is a lesson plan where evaluation will be based on participation and engagement of experimental principles rather than the effectiveness of the actual launch.

* "Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. That is whenever a first body exerts a force F. On a second body, the second body exerts a force ?F on the first body. F and ?F are equal in size and opposite in direction." (Wikipedia1, 1)

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