I would use the story ‘Aliens in Underpants Save the World’ as a starting point for our class investigation on how to make a rocket.
I would read the story to my class and then explain that we are now going to make a rocket to visit the aliens in space so we can thank them for saving the world. We want to give them more underpants as a gift.
We would then look at Marvin and Milo’s Balloon Rocket story. I would cover the last image and ask the children to make a prediction on what they think might happen when they unclip the peg…….
Starter question might be: Does the amount of air in the balloon effect how far the balloon travels?
Does the size/shape of the balloon effect how the rocket travels?
Children would then work in groups to create their very own balloon rocket and carry out their own investigation using the starter questions listed above. I would give all the materials listed in Marvin and Milo’s story but make sure there were balloons of different shapes and sizes.
Taking the next step: We would discuss what else flies through the air and put a plan together to make paper airplanes.