Making a rocket lesson plan (2nd class)
Stomp Rocket Jr. Rockets – 8 Rockets
I would use the above STEM themed stomp rocket as the prompt and engage activity to introduce to children to rockets. After allowing children to play in groups and take turns stomping and launching the rockets outside in the yard I would ask the children to sit in a circle and pose questions about the rockets. What makes the rocket launch? what is the furthest the rocket travelled? What happens if we remove the side fins of the rocket? What is the trajectory (path) of the rocket through the air?
Using the framework of enquiry I would ask the class to test out a hypotheses. Does a rocket with fins always travel farther than one without? What test can we do to investigate our hypotheses. I would ask the children to work in groups and for each group to perform three stomp rocket lunches on a rocket with fins, and one without. so each group do in 6 total and then we share results as a class and look at what the data results tell us.
We would include in the discussion vocabulary like force, launch, trajectory, gravity and encourage the children to use this vocabulary too,
In a second lesson we would engage in making rockets in groups. I think the mice rockets are a fun and simple way of demonstrating force needed to launch a rocket and how that can be increased or decreased depending on bottle size.
After construction I would ask children to make predictions about what rocket will travel furthest. children can give an explanation for their thinking if they wish. Working in same groups I would ask that half children do mice rockets and other half do balloon rockets. Children would take turns launching both forms of rockets and discuss as group what they observe.
As a final part of this learning about rockets I would link with a junior infant class and engage in peer to peer learning by letting the 2nd class pupils demonstrate their mice rockets and balloon rockets and share what they have learned with children of junior infants.