Rockets Project a Success! Fun day launching today

I love rockets. My Bachelor's degree is in Aerospace Engineering and I've been interested in rockets since I was a kid. My dad worked on the main engines for the Saturn V rocket when he worked at Pratt & Whitney as a chemist, I've designed and manufactured parts for the space program as an engineer, and my senior project in college was designing a two-state-to-orbit space vehicle (and we got to work with NASA engineers on the project - very cool!). I've found that all kids seem to have some interest in rockets and I use that as a great end-of-the-year project in my physics class.

Today was Rocket Launch Day for my Physics classes. It's the finale to their last project of the year. We launch their rockets multiple times, even having a little fun and doing modifications to the fins and rocket to see what happens. It was slightly overcast with 5-10 mph wind out of the SouthEast, but we only lost two rockets into the trees near the field. We use A8-3 and B6-4 engines, with average impulses of 2.5 N-s and 5 N-s and maximum thrust of 10 N and 12 N, respectively. Average altitudes for these rockets are between 150 and 300 feet.

Here are some pictures some students took from today's launches.

A couple of the students jump when the 1st rocket launches

That's me at the launch controls. 

Their end of the year project is to research, design, build, analyze, and launch model rockets. The project combines physics concepts from throughout the year (stress, stability, aerodynamics, Newton's Laws and Forces, energy, impulse, matter and chemical energy, fluids and more) as well as helping students to continue to build their teamwork, communications, and problem solving skills. They have to use physics concepts to predict the altitude the rocket will go (based on mass, aerodynamics, forces and impulse). We then use trackers to measure the angle for the rockets, and knowing the distance the trackers are from the launch pad they can use trigonometry to find the actual altitude. They then have to complete a project report with all of their design information, calculations, analysis, and why their predicted and actual altitudes were different (usually are) along with any issues they had.

It's a great project to end the year. They learn and have fun all at the same time.

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I found a great resource from NASA - The Rockets Educator Guide - that includes lesson plans and activity ideas. NASA's site is a great resource for this type of project. This guide has some great activities like rockets using film canisters, baking soda, and vinegar, paper rockets, altitude trackers and more. There is even a part on the history of rockets.

The students start the whole unit with a WebQuest on NASA's site about rockets - NASA's Beginners Guide to Rockets: http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/rocket/index.html This site helps them tie all the physics concepts together and apply them to rockets. It also explains how model rockets work, from the engine propellant and nozzle, to the recovery system and ignition system.

You can extend the unit and do more activities from the educators guide. You can also have students research space missions, current spacecraft, and the future of space travel.

Discovery Education Streaming has some great videos and resources, including the "NASA at 50", "Bill Nye Great Inventions" and "When We Left The Earth: The NASA Mission" series.

The students learn a lot, see an application of what they have learned, work as a team, and have some fun. It's a great way to end the year.

Topics in this unit:
history of rockets
transportation
energy transformations
fluid dynamics
thermodynamics
aerodynamics
chemistry of solid fuel engines
stability
Newton's Laws
Gravity
air resistance

Skills:
Teamwork
communication
reading comprehension
manual dexterity
application of knowledge
problem solving
math

Resources needed:
computer with internet to connect to NASA website
NASA Rockets Educator Guide - free
Model rocket kits, engines, and launcher (available from a variety of companies and suppliers. I use Estes).
(funding for these supplies have been through Donor's Choose and an Air Force Association classroom grant).

Rockets resources:

NASA's Beginners Guide to Rockets: http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/rocket/index.html

Estes Model Rockets - Educator Page: http://www.esteseducator.com/

Apogee Rockets - http://www.apogeerockets.com/ (click on "Educational")

National Association of Rocketry: http://www.nar.org/teacher.html

Fly Rockets: http://www.flyrockets.com/

NASA Educator's Resource Centers http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/k-4/learning/F_Educator_Resource_Center_Network.html

Related:

End of the School Year Approaches - lesson ideas and reflections

NASA Speakers Bureau - free guest speakers for your class

As a science teacher, NASA is an incredible resource for me. NASA has tons of great, free, educational resources that are also good for any subject.

NASA also has a speakers bureau that will provide engineers, scientists, and other professionals to speak to audiences around the country. You can also request an astronaut to come and speak to your class. It is free, but there are some conditions. It is an easy process.

Have some exciting, knowledgeable speakers come to your school, for free, and educate and motivate your students.



NASA Speakers Bureau

NASA - Find lots of great educational resources

DNS Charger Issue - Google notifying users through search

Public Service Announcement:

DNSCharger is malware botnet shut down in 2011 by the FBI and computer groups through some re-routing of internet servers. Most people are fine, but many computers - personal, corporate, and government - are still at risk. The FBI is shutting down the fix in July and many people will lose internet access if they don't apply the fix by then. Google is helping by notifying users that they have the infection when they use Google's search page. This should help people make the fix before the shut down.

You can also go here: http://www.dcwg.org/ to see if your computer is infected and make the fix.

Please share this with your friends, colleagues, and students.

Update on InstallFree Nexus and Rndr - work great on a Chromebook!

Earlier today I wrote about InstallFree Nexus and Rndr, apps that allow you to use other apps, like LibreOffice and Java, on any device. Here's the full article: http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2012/05/installfree-nexus-us-ms-office-or.html

I've been using them all day on my CR-48 Chromebook and they work great! The biggest thing that I was not able to do on my Chromebook was accessing our Gradebook system, which runs on Java. Using Rndr, I was able to access it and use it on the Chromebook. It's not as speedy as on a Windows device, but not bad at all, and the company making Rndr tells me that there are some performance improvements coming shortly.

You can also use their apps to use LibreOffice (or MS Office) in the cloud on any device, including iOS, Android and Chrome. I was using the LibreOffice version and I was able to open up, view and edit LibreOffice and MS Office files directly from my Google Drive without needing to convert them to Google Docs formats.

All-in-all, these apps are a great resource for anyone, especially those using Chromebooks.

Check out my full review here: http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2012/05/installfree-nexus-us-ms-office-or.html


Related:

Google Chromebooks and Chrome OS revisited - great for education
iPads, Chromebooks, on-device apps, cloud apps - great discussions

Google Chromebooks and Chrome OS revisited - great for education

I am a huge user of Google's many apps and resources. I also was lucky enough to receive a CR-48 Chromebook from Google to use and review. I really love how it works and think Chromebooks are an excellent idea for education. There is no support needed, nothing to install, it updates on it's own and you can do everything on it. All you need is an internet connection. Considering most people do everything online with web apps anyway, that's not a big deal. You can also have different user accounts and no data is stored on the device, making it great for sharing among students. The battery lasts a long time too. With all of the free web apps that exist, there is no need to license software either.

One issue that I did have was that I couldn't run Java apps so I couldn't run our gradebook software (from PowerTeacher). I just reviewed a new, free, app for Chrome called Rndr, that allows you to use Java apps on any device. I was able to use the gradebook on my Chromebook and now there is nothing I can't do with it.

They are becoming more popular and widespread and a great option for schools.


Here is a great video on what Chrome OS is:





Related:


Google Chromebooks for Education - updated pricing and info

Google Chromebook homepage

Google Chrome OS - great idea for education!

iPads, Chromebooks, on-device apps, cloud apps - great discussions

Google Chrome OS and CR-48 notebook review and 1st impressions

Google Chrome OS CR-48 coming in real handy lately

Livescribe SmartPen - 5 years of smartpen use and my review

I love my Livescribe SmartPen. It is a great resource for me to take hand written notes and then have them digitized and saved. It also includes a voice recorder that syncs with your written notes. I've been using it at conferences, meetings, and to do science work and calculations. It is much faster than typing and works great for math, science, symbols, and diagrams. I love that I can then view my notes on any device and even send my notes via email, to Evernote, Docs, or a variety of apps.

This is Livescribe's 5th anniversary. Happy Anniversary!

The ability to record your hand written notes is very useful in Math and Science, since it’s very hard to take notes in these areas with a keyboard or even a tablet/pad. It can also make an audio record of what you say or hear as you are writing and it timestamps and syncs the written notes with the audio notes.

Your notes get synced to your computer using a mini-usb cable and the Livescribe desktop application. There is also an application that you can get that will transcribe your handwritten notes into digital typeset notes. You can even search for words in your notes. The desktop application allows you to organize your notes and shows a thumbnail of each notebook. You can then view each notebook page and page forward and backward.

The pen is controlled by tapping on certain symbols in the notebook, which is pretty cool. You use this to select other applications in the pen, start, stop, and playback audio recordings and more. Inside the front cover of the Livescribe notebooks is a “calculator” that allows you to use the pen as a calculator. There are also controls on each page that allow you to change the volume on the pen, jump around your recordings, and even bookmark a spot in your notes. 

You can share your notes and recordings as a pencast, PDF, or audio file. The desktop application has one-click sharing with Evernote, Facebook, Google Docs and Email. This means you can always have your notes available to you. You can also sync your pen notes to multiple computers. During meetings, one person can be the official note-taker and then share the notes out with everyone else.

There are apps available also that you can download to add more functionality to your pen, including dictionaries, translators, games, productivity tools and more.

There is a vibrant user community and support team as well as resources for using the Livescribe Pens in Education. These pens are great for taking notes and then sharing and saving them. I can see a lot of great uses for these in education. The site has some great tips and uses for using the pens in school and even has reports of how the pens have helped increase student achievement. The Livescribe help website is easy to use and understand and makes using these pens very easy. Set up only takes a couple of minutes.

Below is a great infographic about Livescribe Smartpens and how they have been used around the world.

Google Doodle Honors Bob Moog - inventor of Moog Synthesizer

Google's Doodles (their logo in a different form for different events/occasions) are always fun, but today's is cool and very fun. You can actually play the synthesizer and even save and share what you create on it!

Here's more info from the Official Google Blog:

In the mid-1960s, Dr. Robert Moog unleashed a new universe of sounds into musicdom with his invention of the electronic analog Moog Synthesizer. The timbre and tones of these keyboard instruments (true works of art in and of themselves) would come to define a generation of music, featuring heavily in songs by The Beatles, The Doors, Stevie Wonder, Kraftwerk and many others.

When people hear the word “synthesizer” they often think “synthetic”—fake, manufactured, unnatural. In contrast, Bob Moog’s synthesizers produce beautiful, organic and rich sounds that are, nearly 50 years later, regarded by many professional musicians as the epitome of an electronic instrument. “Synthesizer,” it turns out, refers to the synthesis embedded in Moog’s instruments: a network of electronic components working together to create a whole greater than the sum of the parts. 

With his passion for high-tech toolmaking in the service of creativity, Bob Moog is something of a patron saint of the nerdy arts and a hero to many of us here. So for the next 24 hours on our homepage, you’ll find an interactive, playable logo inspired by the instruments with which Moog brought musical performance into the electronic age. You can use your mouse or computer keyboard to control the mini-synthesizer’s keys and knobs to make nearly limitless sounds. Keeping with the theme of 1960s music technology, we’ve patched the keyboard into a 4-track tape recorder so you can record, play back and share songs via short links or Google+.

Check it out, have a little fun, and share it with others!