Rocket Launch #2 Reflection

We did it! We launched our rocket for the second time. I mean, it wasn’t an improvement, but we did it! The first launch was a success, the rocket went about 16.5 meters into the air. On the other hand, the second launch wasn’t as impressive. The rocket only went 5.5 meters into the air. This was a big disappointment to my group. We remade the nose cone so that it was pointier. We don’t know if this worked because the day of second launch, it was really windy and cold. On the day of the first launch, the sun was shining, it was warm and there was no wind. We wanted the rocket to go much higher. We expected it too go up to 20.5 meters. We were really wrong, but even though the rocket’s height didn’t reach our expectations, we still had a good time rebuilding, launching, and I can’t speak for my group, but I loved the rocketry experience.

This is a video I made reflecting on both launches

Rocket Launch #1 Reflection

After a lot of hard work, we made it to launching our rockets. We went through research, making passion boards, naming our group, designing the rocket and building it. It was fun, but my group did have some rough times when we didn’t agree. When we launched, all groups were successful meaning that no rockets blew up, broke or got terribly damaged. The worst damage that was done to my rocket was that the nose cone dented, but that’s nothing compared to what happened to some other classes rockets. My rocket went super high and so did all of the others. Launching the rockets was hard work for my teacher because she had to control 22 children outside. To make her life easier, we all had jobs. I was the pumper in my group. That meant that I had to pump a bicycle pump to 50 psi. After I pumped, the countdown person made sure everyone was ready, than counted down from 10. Once he/she got to 1, the launcher pushed the button that sent the rocket into the air. The last job was the video person. The video person recorded the rocket launch. Everyone also had to be a clinometer and a data recorder. I used the clinometer to see the angle of another groups rocket when it was launched. When I recorded data, I wrote down the angle of another groups rocket when it was launched. Now, we have to make repairs and change something about our rocket so that when we launch again, the rocket goes even higher than before. I’m loving the rocketry unit so far and am looking foward to launching again soon.