It’s Not Rocket Science – But It Is!

On May 10, Utah’s Fox 13 News visited Weilenmann School of Discovery to capture a first-ever event for Middle School students. Through our relationship with the aerospace company, Northrop Grumman, students were given the opportunity to build and launch their own paper rockets. “This was an exciting day for students,” explains Middle School Science teacher Roni Ottley. “We’ve been planning it for some time, but had to reschedule because of bad weather. Today turned out to be a perfect launch day!”

During their visit, the Northrop Grumman STEM outreach team first met with students in a classroom setting to teach and review the laws of physics as they relate to rockets. Each member of the team is a specific type of engineer in the field – optical, systems, cyber, etc. – and explained to students the vast number of career opportunities that exist in engineering. They then provided detailed instructions and all the materials needed for students to build their own paper rockets. Once those were ready, everyone went outside to load the rocket-launching equipment and experience Newton’s third law of motion for themselves – which, students discovered, applied not only to paper rockets, but to Snickers bars as well! Finally, students re-grouped to discuss the results and review the physics behind those results.

The kids loved this and will remember it, reflects Miss Ottley. And it contained the elements we love to have in a STEM experience – hands-on learning, real-world applications, and a lot of fun!

See the Fox 13 News Clip
https://youtu.be/WpCoMNX1SDE