Lesson 8 Grades 3–5
Launch day: how high did it go?
- Timeabout 45–60 minutes outside
- WorksheetsE8 Launch log, the 45° sighting card, and the Rocket Scientist certificate
- Rocket Builderon a tablet or projector
- Optional instructor demoa 3D-printed rocket
Worksheets (PDF) Open Rocket Builder
Standards
| Code | In plain words |
|---|---|
| 3-PS2-2 | Use a pattern in how things move to predict what will happen next. |
| 4-PS3-1 | Explain that a faster object has more energy. |
| 3-5-ETS1-3 | Test a model and decide what to improve. |
| 4.MD.C.6 (math) | Measure angles. |
| SL.3.4 / SL.4.4 / SL.5.4 (ELA) | Tell about an experience in order, with facts and details. |
Practice: planning and carrying out investigations; constructing explanations. Crosscutting concepts: patterns; energy and matter.
I can…
- I can follow the launch rules and do my launch-team job.
- I can use a 45° sighting card to tell if a rocket went higher than my distance from the launcher.
- I can explain that a harder stomp makes the rocket go faster, so it has more energy and goes higher.
Words to know
- Energy what makes things move. A faster rocket has more energy.
- Tracker the person who watches the rocket to measure how high it goes.
- Countdown "5, 4, 3, 2, 1, launch!" Everyone knows when it will go.
Materials
- Improved stomp rockets (Lesson 6) and the parachute rocket (Lesson 7)
- The stomp launcher, cones, safety glasses for everyone
- 45° sighting cards (on the worksheets; cut out and fold), a tape measure
- Worksheet E8 on a clipboard, pencils
- A tablet or projector with Rocket Builder
Steps
1Before you go out10 min
Read the launch rules together (see the safety page). Give out jobs: countdown caller, stomper, two trackers, recorder, recovery crew. Everyone takes a turn.
How the 45° card works: fold a square of paper corner to corner to make a triangle. Hold the long edge level and sight up the slanted edge. That line goes up at 45°. If you stand 10 m from the launcher and the rocket goes above your 45° line, it went higher than 10 m. Below the line? Lower than 10 m.
2Launch!25 min
- Trackers stand 10 m from the launcher (measure it), off to the side.
- Predict: before each launch, the recorder writes a guess. Higher or lower than the 45° line?
- Countdown, stomp. Trackers call "above!" or "below!"
- Try a soft, a medium and a hard stomp with the same rocket. Record each.
- Fly the parachute rocket. Does the parachute open?
3Rocket Builder and the real thing5 min
On the tablet or projector, open a Rocket Builder design and press ▶ Watch it launch (Simple mode on a projector). Read the predicted height. Compare: the app's rocket flies on a real motor, which pushes for about a second. A stomp pushes for a split second. That's why the app's rocket goes much higher.
4Wrap up10 min
- What pattern did you see between the stomp and the height? (Harder stomp, faster rocket, higher flight.)
- Tell a partner the story of your best flight, in order: before, during, after.
- Hand out the Rocket Scientist certificates.
Check for understanding
- A rocket goes above the 45° line. The tracker stood 10 m away. Did it go higher or lower than 10 m?
- A hard stomp sends the rocket higher than a soft stomp. Which rocket was moving faster when it left the launcher? Which had more energy?
- Why do we count down out loud?
Answer key
- Higher than 10 m.
- The hard-stomp rocket: it was faster, so it had more energy.
- So everyone knows exactly when the rocket will launch and is watching and ready.
Teacher notes
- Safety: glasses on. Nobody stands in front of or over the launcher. Stomp only on "launch!" Never chase a rocket into a road, tree or power line.
- Grade 3: use only "above or below the line". Grade 5: use a protractor inclinometer (from the middle-school worksheets) and the shortcut: at 30° the height is about half the distance; at 45° it equals the distance; at 60° it's about 1.7 times the distance. Add about 1.3 m for eye height.
- Optional instructor demo, a printed rocket on a real motor: only if an adult experienced with model rockets runs it, following the NAR Model Rocket Safety Code, on a field big enough for the motor (see the middle-school safety page), with students behind a spectator line at least 30 feet (10 m) from the pad. Students never handle motors, igniters or the launch key, and never go to the pad. A simpler option: watch a local NAR club launch as spectators, or show a video of one. Kits and motor flights are rated 12+.
- Rain or wind? Do launch day in a gym with straw rockets, and use Rocket Builder's simulated launch.
- Further resources: Apogee Components' free Rocketry Reservoir (apogeerockets.com/downloads/PDFs/Rocketry_Education_Pack.pdf) has rocket colouring pages and certificates you can print. The NAR (nar.org) lists clubs that welcome school groups at their launches.
- Rocket Builder tools for launch day: the altitude calculator (rocket.quiverdesignworks.net/tools/altitude) turns an angle and a distance into a height, shows the working, the 45° rule and the average of two trackers (good for grade 5). Each design also has a one-page mission card (designer ▾ download menu → Mission card) with its predicted height, to print for the clipboard. The simulator's Predict, fly, compare log keeps the class's guesses and results.