Grade 4: Rocket Racers!

Fourth grade finished up the rocket racer aerodynamics unit today by testing our racers out!  We did three trial runs to see how far the design we engineered would take us.  After each trial we recorded distance covered, how our racer behaved, and what we thought we could do to make the design go farther and what was causing it's behavior!  Many of us were successful at troubleshooting our problems and getting more distance after correction.  We reviewed and observed the properties of air and had a great discussion on distance efficiency: small wheels vs. large wheels, small wheels in back vs. in the front, mass of the cart, tape and balloon when blown up, causes of smooth axle turning, etc.  Check out a short video and some examples of movement and see pictures of all rocket racers below:

Rocket Racer Video