Mrs. Scharton's Fourth Graders Count Down to Blast Off

The day finished off strong as the final group of fourth grade rocketeers at Wilder Elementary made their way to the launch pad. Each student positioned their rocket onto the air-powered PVC launcher and started the countdown. As part of tonight’s homework assignment, Mrs. Scharton’s students were asked to share their rocket building experience as a post on this blog. The students were taught the importance of using only their first names and some basic blogging etiquette. You can read their responses below.

This activity is just one part of the fourth grade unit on rockets and space. The students watched the movie October Sky and build their own paper rockets to experience the trials and errors of the characters in the original Rocket Boys story by Homer Hickam. Read how the lesson started.

28 replies
  1. Allie S.
    Allie S. says:

    I learned so much with Steve today.My rocket flew well because I put stuff on it that would make it fly through the air.I learned a ton about gravity and stuff about Newtons Laws. I thought it was so cool to see how everybodys rockets were and how each one flied so differently because of how they built theirs. I think I could have enhanced my rocket that made it look better instead of a piece of paper tube. I also cold have enhanced it by putting things on it that could have made it fly more swiftly through the air. Thanks Steve Spangler!By.

    Reply
  2. Marc
    Marc says:

    Dear Mr. Spangler

    The rocket I made had a sharp long nose, and three fins. I think my rocket did pretty well. I thought it had done so well beacause the nose of the rocket was long, and the shape of the three fins, and the tape I used at home. I saw some rocket’s noses come off, I thought that hapend beacause the students didn’t put eanough tape on the noses. Thank you vary much Mr. Spangler.

    Reply
  3. Luke
    Luke says:

    We launched our rockets today! In the afternoon we will see who has the best rocket. My rocket looks like a Scout. I named it Scout IV. I really like it. My rocket flew far but, some were way better. It didn’t fly very well I guess I could improve it. I could make it better by making the fins even in size. All in all I like making rockets. They are VERY cool.

    Reply
  4. Katy C.
    Katy C. says:

    To finish out are day today we launched the rockets that we had made as our homework last night. Mine didn’t fly so well. When I Launched it nothing came off the launcher, except for the tip which came flying off! I figured out that I didn’t secure the tip on well enough and so nothing was able to happen since the pressure wasn’t able to stay inside the rocket. If I were able to redo it I would definetly make sure no air could get through. THANK YOU MR. SPANGLER!

    Reply
  5. morgan hall
    morgan hall says:

    Ihad an awesome day! First everywon lanched there rockets sepretly, some went way far, others did not! Mine totally went bad!! Then after that, my dad lanched a REAL rocket!!!!!! It went crazy far! the over all winner was Claire Kanter.hers went into the church parking lot. Iwish mine went as well as hers!all in all our stuff is pretty fun, but ya dont always get what you expect.

    Reply
  6. morgan hall
    morgan hall says:

    Ihad an awesome day! First everywon lanched there rockets sepretly, some went way far, others did not! Mine totally went bad!! Then after that, my dad lanched a REAL rocket!!!!!! It went crazy far! the over all winner was Claire Kanter.hers went into the church parking lot. Iwish mine went as well as hers!all in all rocket stuff is pretty fun, but ya dont always get what you expect.

    Reply
  7. Nicole
    Nicole says:

    I had a awesome day!! Mine was second to last but I did have an experience with it like the rocketboys! I thought that mine would be first. To end it, I had a pretty good day.

    Reply
  8. Evan
    Evan says:

    Today Mr. Spangler came to launch our rockets. I was chosen to launch first. My launch was very similar to Homer Hikam’s third launch because my rocket flew for maybe a second or two before exploding. Even though I did not win I had fun and it was a good learning experience. Thank you Mr. Spangler

    Reply
  9. sloane
    sloane says:

    today in school we took our rockets and lanched them.It was so cool!S0me rockets even blew up! Some rockets didn’t hav fins. Mine was yellow with plastic wrap.It had 3finsand a purple cap.Mine went half way down the soccer field. I think my rocket would have gone farther if I had not put on the plastic wrap. I think some of them blew up because there caps weren’t on all the way or because they couldn’t stand the pressure. the air pressure was so high it blew a hole in the tape I put under my cap. It was an amazing day. Ican’t wait until Mr.Spangler comes again.

    Reply
  10. Jordan
    Jordan says:

    This sounds like a really cool idea! If any of these students is interested in entering any of http://www.bkfk.com‘s challenges for creative, innovative kids, it would be a tremendous asset to us! There is 4 $10,000 prizes up for grabs! Either way, keep up the great work and keep on inspiring!

    Reply
  11. Shorty
    Shorty says:

    Katy C., it’s okay that your rocket didn’t fly. Sometimes our failures add to our body of knowledge more than our successes. Now you know what to do and what not to do, so try to build another rocket on your own and I’m sure you’ll be able to construct it in a way so that after you launch it, the next time you’ll see it, it will be in Kingdom Come.

    Reply
  12. Duct Tape
    Duct Tape says:

    Hey Nicole. We also will be launching rockets and watching the movie of October Sky. I hope I have as much fun as you. My class will be doing almost the same thing as your class did with the rockets. Have a BLAST of fun.

    Reply
  13. Purple Penguin
    Purple Penguin says:

    It’s great that you liked the launch Evan! I’m reading October Sky right now, and I can’t wait to launch rockets with Steve! Even though your rocket exploded, you must have had fun being the first person to do it. We are at Willow Creek Elementary. Sometime you should look at our site. It is http://www.lisaheaton.com. You can see our Sputnik poems and other responses.

    Reply
  14. Geiko Gecko
    Geiko Gecko says:

    Hi Wilder Elementary. I have been reading the book, “Rocket Boys,” in a class here at Willow Creek. Steve is going to come to our class and launch paper rockets and fuel rockets at our school. We have a blog as well, too!! It is called, “www.lisaheaton.com.” It’s really cool to see another class working on a project that we are as well. See you guys later!

    Geiko Gecko

    Reply
  15. ferocious ferret
    ferocious ferret says:

    Hi Wilder Elementary. How was the launch? Were the explosions cool? We get to do the same thing next week. It seems like tons of fun. It seems even better with Steve Spangler.
    I hope you visit our blog at http://www.lisaheaton.com/. I hope I hear from you soon.

    Reply
  16. Kit Kat
    Kit Kat says:

    Hi Wilder Elementary! My class is reading the book October Sky and we will soon be watching the movie. We are also going to launch rockets on thursday. Do you guys have any tips? Thanks!

    Reply
  17. Duct Tape
    Duct Tape says:

    Hi Luke. I’m reading the book then the movie. On my rocket I will make sure that I have even fins to make it fly better. I hope I have as much fun as you did.

    Reply
  18. flaming bunny
    flaming bunny says:

    Evan, why do you think your rocket blew up? Was it just unlucky, or did you not put it together right? Did the launch go right? I hope you guys come to our site in a couple of days to see how our rocket launches went with Steve.

    Reply
  19. Purple Penguin
    Purple Penguin says:

    Nice scientific thinking, Luke! Next time you will make sure you made the rocket perfect! I like the name for your rocket! Scout IV is very creative. I hope you come to our site soon to see our blog entries.

    Reply

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