Straw Rockets are exciting to fly, and are easy to make and to modify. They are a good basis for a design challenge and provide students an opportunity to experience the power of air pressure, and rocket flight.

This Instructable is part of the Paper Flight workshop: https://www.instructables.com/Paper-Flight-a-Pape...

Below are instructions for building a very basic straw rocket, one that is ripe for improvement as part of the design challenge.

Supplies

Paper
Scissors
Tape
Straw (paper or plastic). If a variety of straws are available, this can be the basis for interesting experiments.
Pencil or Pen with a diameter just slightly bigger than the straw (optional)

Step 1: Cut a Strip of Paper

Cut out a rectangle approximately 2.5" wide and about 3/4 the length of your straw. You can divide a sheet of printer paper in fourths, then cut to the desired length.

Place a piece of tape on the middle of the long edge of the paper, half of it attached to the paper, half sticking out. Put the paper on the table with the tape away from you, and the sticky side of the tape facing up. (Thanks for this tip to the students who are featured in the Instructable https://www.instructables.com/Straw-Rockets-or-St... )

Step 2: Role the Rocket

Place a pencil or pen that has a diameter just a bit bigger than your straw on the edge of the paper closest to you. Roll the paper around this, and continue rolling until the tape secures your paper tube. Add more tape if necessary to keep the tube from unrolling.

If you don't have a pencil with the right diameter, you can roll the rocket directly around the straw, just don't roll it too tightly -- the rocket needs to slide on and off the straw easily. Also, don't crush your straw.

Step 3: Make the Nose Cone

Fold, or twist, or tape one end of your tube shut to form the front ("nose") of the rocket.

Step 4: Test Your Rocket

Fit the rocket over the straw. Now, holding the straw, aim, and blow through the straw --liftoff!

Be Safe: Never aim the rocket at a person or animal! Fly the rockets in an open space -- the rockets travel fast, and can easily fly 10 or 20 feet!

Step 5: Improve Your Design!

What can you do to improve the design of your rocket?

Students may find air leaks they need to seal up. Why do they think escaping air would be an issue?

Is the rocket not taking off properly? Can students figure out why? (Perhaps the fit is too tight, or too loose on the straw?)

Did anyone mention adding fins? You can use tape, paper, or some combination to make an endless variety of fins. Or wings. Or both. How do different fins affect the rocket?

Step 6: Rockets Vs. Planes

Have students think about what makes a paper airplane or straw rocket go. Since neither has a motor, something needs to give them an initial push. For paper airplanes, this initial energy is supplied by your arm. For the rocket, the initial thrust comes from the energy in the pressurized air provided by your lungs. Like all rockets, ours work on the idea of action and reaction -- air escapes from the back, and the opposing reaction pushes the rocket forward. The resources section has links to more detailed explanations of the physics of how rockets work and how the pressurized air propels our rockets.

Once we launch our rockets or planes, air resistance (all the air molecules they encounter and need to push out of the way) will start to slow them down. This is also called "drag". How do differently shaped rockets affect air resistance? What causes more or less drag?

Gravity will also try to pull the rocket or plane down. To stay in the air longer, a plane has wings designed to provide lift. The fins of a rocket, in contrast, are usually much smaller -- they are only designed to provide stability as it flies. Making the fins as small as possible minimizes air resistance that will slow the rocket down. And speed is what rockets are all about.

Of course, you can add larger wings to your straw rocket so it can also glide -- much like the space shuttle was designed to launch as a rocket and glide back to a landing like a plane.

Step 7: Resources

Physics of Rockets:
https://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/resources/390-roc...

https://www.sciencefriday.com/educational-resource...

https://engineering.purdue.edu/PurdueSpaceDay/educ...

Straw Rocket Instructables for more ideas and great student photos:

https://www.instructables.com/Straw-Rockets-or-Str...

For a squeeze bottle launcher:

https://www.instructables.com/Squeeze-Bottle-Rocke...

(And many more variations if you search for "Straw Rockets" or "Paper Rockets")

This work is made possible by support from STAR, a Biogen Foundation Initiative. The team at Lesley supporting this initiative includes faculty and staff in the Lesley STEAM Learning Lab, Science in Education, the Center for Mathematics Achievement, and other related Lesley University departments and programs.