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Activity: Rockets with 1st class
My stimulus would be a video of a rocket launching. I would ask the students to tell me everything they know about what is happening in this video. We would then discuss rocket launches, where the rocket might be going, what it might be used for. I would tell the students that today we are going to investigate how a rocket launches.
I would show them the Marvin and Milo cartoon. I would divide the class into groups and provide them with all the equipment they need to carry out the experiment. I would circulate between the groups, offering support and help when needed. Once the students have successfully launched their rocket, I would encourage them to think of anyway they might be able to change one thing in the experiment to see if the results would be different.
Conclusion: I would ask them if they can guess from their findings in this experiment what force might be behind the launching of a rocket into space. We would discuss how, in a real rocket launch, gas released from the ignited fuel pushes down hard against the ground pushing the rocket up into the sky.
Cross curricular links:
Art – construction
Math – measuring
History – sequencing
English – Comic strip