Fifth graders at the 2nd Street Campus launched model rockets in the field this week in Ms. Dorsey’s science class. Sam Alvord, father of fifth grader Caleb Alvord, helped the students create Estes model rockets with metal with plastic fins and a parachute inside. The experiment used solid rocket fuel made with black powder propellant to create a reaction like dynamite. Students put metal starters into the end of the propellant. The starters were connected with alligator clips to a wired launch stick. The launch stick sends an electrical current to the starter which heats up and ignites the propellant. Students created charts of the blast off, showing Newton’s Three Laws of Motion and describing the types of forces and energy the rocket used and produced.
