I will use the How to Make Rocket Mice activity from the Science Museum in London https://learning.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/resources/rocket-mice/ with my class of Junior Infants as it is so accessible and engaging with lots of learning. The activity involves shooting a rocket mouse high into the air by squashing a plastic bottle launcher. It shows that “What goes up must come down”.
First, I will read the story Mousetronaut in Space by Mark Kelly and tell the children that today they are going to try to make their own rockets to investigate how the mouse could get into space and to the moon. I will show them the materials we have to make the rocket (bottle, template, scissors, tape and materials to decorate). As a whole class we will think about how we will make our rocket, what will make our rockets fly? What makes it come down again? How do you think a real rocket works? Working in pairs the children will make a rocket and they will each make their own ‘mouse’. They will then investigate how it launches. Next, they will investigate how they could make their rocket travel higher? How could they make it go more slowly? At the end of the activity we will discuss who got their rockets to launch the farthest, we’re there similarities in their designs? As an extension activity the children will describe what mouse would see once they got to the moon (is it made of cheese??) to build on learning about space.