Class 4 spent a fantastic afternoon designing, making and testing rockets. In teams, they planned stream lined, aerodynamic models which they then constructed out of card. They inserted a film canister into the bottom of the rocket. The canister was filled 1/3 full with water and half an alka seltzer tablet was added to the water before the canister was quickly closed and the rocket placed on the ground. The children then counted to see how long it took for their rockets to blast off. We learned that the reason the rocket takes off is due to a chemical reaction between the alka seltzer tablet and water whereby bubbles of carbon dioxide are released and the pressure from this gas gradually builds inside the canister until it is released, the lid pops off the the rocket is thrust into the air. We had such a fun afternoon!
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