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| At Arcadia High School (in Greece, NY), Robin Colburn's Physics class was studying speed and acceleration. In order to make the subject more interesting, Ms. Colburn decided to have her students launch "water rockets" to study these concepts. Students were paired up and challenged to build a rocket which would not only fly, but would carry a "payload" (a raw egg) and return it safely to earth. Ms. Colburn enlisted the help of Jerry Taylor, one of the district's Technology Integration Teachers. Mr. Taylor devised a plan to help the students with their measurements. He suggested using a digital video camera to capture each student's rocket launch. The rockets were launched using a known distance in the background. (In this case, it was a soccer goalpost.) Mr. Taylor showed Ms. Colburn and her students how to "still-step" through the digital video sequences. Knowing the length of each frame (1/30th of a second) and the height of the soccer goalpost, the students were able to calculate the rate of acceleration of their rockets. This innovative approach allowed the students to grasp the concepts of speed and acceleration in a unique way. Below are the details of the project. |
Click on any picture for a larger version
 The building blocks |
 Rocket assembled |
 Under construction |
 Almost ready |
 Ready to launch |
 Setting up |
 Countdown begins |
 5-4-3-2-1... |
 Liftoff |
 Student Handout Page 1 |
 Student Handout Page 2 |
 Student Handout Page 3 |
