Rocketry at School Returns

Monday was a busy day of rocketry. Mrs. Leemus class had decorated their rockets and proudly displayed their reports of the launchers their groups were named from.

Over at Mariposa, I passed out Quest Starhawk rockets to build and the club got new members. Parents joined and helped the building session.

More Rockets Today

The second sessions of rocketry are taking place today at Mariposa and Linda Verde schools. At Linda Verde, the kids get parachutes for their rockets and I get to see how each group has researched their launch rocket group name. We'll fly them next session in two weeks. Over at Mariposa, we're having the second meeting of the After School Rocketry Club. We have more kids joining up, and today Quest Starhawk rockets will be given out and assembled. In each class, I'm going to introduce a little rocket math. I'll be showing how to calculate rocket altitude today using triangulation trigonometry. Each class will also get some Man and Space books from the old Time Life Sciences collection. These books excited me about the space flights of the 60's when I was their age, now they serve as historic markers of the space race

A New Beginning

The school year is well under way, and this year, rocketry in school is taking a giant leap forward. With the kind approval of Mariposa School's Principle, I've started an after school rocketry club with the help of Mrs Adams and Mrs Blanchard. It's a school year program, longer than any we've done in the past, and the mission is to teach as much math, science, history and English composition as possible through rocketry.

It will culminate in a competition with neighboring Linda Verde School to see who can design and build a rocket that will launch an egg into the air and bring it back intact. A tall order for 4th and 5th grade students but I know they can do it.

Over at Linda Verde, the principle, Mrs. Zapata, welcomed the idea of a rocketry program at her campus and enlisted the aid of Mrs. Leemus, who transferred there from Mariposa. Some of her kids flew with me last year, and she is no stranger to the rockets. Here's her happy class after getting their rockets today.


This will lead to a friendly competition between both schools in the Egg-straordinary Space Challenge later in the spring of 2010. These are future Team America Rocketry Challenge students in the making!