Spitball Straw Rockets- Quick, cheap, and FUN!

Straw rockets have been done over and over with hundreds of different variations, so why not one more?  This version is ultra-fast and super easy, allowing you to make multiple rockets with different designs in a very short time. 

I do this project with 7th and 8th grade students in one class period, having them build at least 3 different rockets with different lengths and different size, style, and number of fins.  This allows them to see how different designs may work before we build larger pop-bottle rockets.  There are many other possible applications, please see the last step for more ideas!

Learning Objective:  By building 3 Spitball Straw Rockets, students will be able to compare how different rocket designs perform, understand how thrust and drag affect rockets, and demonstrate Newton's 3rd Law of Motion- For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Step 1: Gather Supplies

Very simple list:

Strip of paper about 2" wide and as long as you want to make it
Scissors
Glue Stick
Pen or dowel slightly thicker than the straw
Straw

Comments

[Kiteman]

For an even more scientific approach, I would connect them to empty plastic bottles as launchers - that makes a fixed volume of air.

If you drop a known mass from a known height, then that also applies a constant pressure on launch.

[brianfss]

As usual kiteman, you've added a valuable lesson. I've been building the little paper rockets for years, but just as a design thing before building the pop bottle rockets. I'm definately going to use your idea this year to up the educational content of the of the exercise.
I've also used the air compressor in the shop to launch them. That way we get a constant pressure.

[Kiteman]

Cool.

[dorkpunch]

That's a great idea too! Wondering now if I could work some physics in- PE=KE. If we can measure the altitude of the rocket, we could calculate its potential energy at apogee, then figure out its velocity at launch...

[JACKBARRY]

doing this in class

[Reed_Sky_Born]

cool

[The Great Hazynie]

What does this have to do with education why is it in the education contest

[fstedie]

Wow, it sounds like you had a terrible school experience. There are plenty of "real" concepts behind the use of this simple activity: Aerodynamics, Physics, Math, all of which apply DIRECTLY.

Don't criticize if you don't know what you're talking about...

[Kiteman]

Never heard of "Rocket Science"?

[dorkpunch]

Lots... I use it in my classroom to teach about Newton's Laws of Motion and as a test bed before we build our pop bottle rockets. There are several more uses for this activity in the classroom- I listed a few of them in the last step.

[Atlas Portal 2]

This is SO awesome I love it

[rimar2000]

Nice kork!