Balloon Rockets - 23rd Oct 2008

The proposed water and air rockets has had to be postponed due to the poor weather. Instead Mr Chew presented another problem - that of how to power a straw along a piece of string using nothing more than balloons, sellotape, card and paper clips.

Groups were formed who all approached the problem using different methods. Soon the lab was full of test rockets propelling along 2 metre pieces of string. Some methods were complicated, others simple, but all aiming toward the final showdown on the corridor.

These photos and videos show some of the groups preparing:

Mr Chew's final cryptic piece of advice was that the answer is right under your nose. No-one had deciphered what he meant as we made our way into the corridor to launch the rockets. Some very complicated designs went no more than a few centimetres whilst other simpler designs made it 4-5 metres. The design under your nose turned out to be the design on the sheet Mr Chew had given out. This was in fact the one that went the furthest, and the video below shows the winning rocket in action.

Hopefully the first week back after half term will see us outside launching the water and compressed air rockets!