Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Experimental Design with Rockets (10th grade)


Richard and I recently introduced our 10th grade General Physics students to Experimental Design through the use of rockets. This then also led nicely into a lab on data collection and analysis, as well as conclusion and evaluation. Here’s how it worked.

Step 1: We had students build rockets that could be launched by our school’s affordable stomp launchers.

Step 2: We launched rockets and if they flew poorly, the students made modifications.

Step 3: We gave the students a contextualized assignment in which they were to assume they were a rocket scientist for a country of their choice in the early 1900’s. They then had to design an experiment involving rockets, and then write a letter to their government seeking funding to carry out their research.

Step 4: We marked the labs and for the best experiments, we awarded “research grants” to these students.

Step 5: Those students with the research grants were assigned a team of scientists to carry out the research. All students then collected data.

Step 6: Students individually analyzed the data through graphs on Excel and then wrote a conclusion and evaluation as well. These were submitted (in soft copy obviously!) and feedback given.

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