Water Rockets

This spectacular workshop encourages both creativity and scientific thinking. We’ll start with a discussion of air power, which is adapted to your class to ensure that it is age appropriate. Your children will then work in pairs or small groups to design and decorate large plastic bottles which can be safely launched outside using water and compressed air.

Focussing on the Working Scientifically skills of asking questions, observing and drawing conclusions, there’ll be plenty of opportunities for focussed talk as your children decide to include or discard nose cones, streamers or fins. Working in pairs or groups facilitates this discussion, as children have to negotiate with their peers and justify their thoughts.

Once the rockets are completed, we’ll launch them outside – this can be spectacular, with rockets often reaching heights of over 30m! We’ll finish the workshop by looking for patterns in our results and reflecting on possible reasons for these patterns before asking your children to come up with further ideas for future testing.

This workshop requires both an indoor and an outdoor space. Our experienced staff will consult with you then consider the weather and the space available in your school to decide if launching the rockets upwards or racing them on a flat surface as Rocket Cars is more suitable.