In this activity, students will:

- Student Instruction Sheet (optional) - Download PDF

- 2 sheets of 8.5 x 11-inch paper (white or color) OR custom skins - Download PDF

- Cellophane tape OR masking tape

- Markers for decorating/naming rockets

- 24-inch length of 1/2-inch PVC pipe (for the rocket form)

Stomp rocket launcher (per launcher):

- Stomp Rocket Assembly Instructions - Download PDF

- 5-foot length of 1/2-inch PVC pipe cut into various lengths (see assembly instructions for lengths)

- 2 PVC 45-degree elbow slip connectors

- 2 PVC tee slip connectors

- Empty 2-liter bottle (plus spares if available)

- Altitude Tracker (printed on cardstock) - Download PDF

- Penny OR similar weight

- Data Sheets - Download PDF (printout) OR XLSX (digital)

- 2 clipboards (each with a pencil) OR a mobile device linked to the digital Data Sheet

- Ruler with metric measure

The mighty space rockets of today are the result of more than 2,000 years of invention, experimentation and discovery. Rockets have launched spacecraft to every planet in the solar system and even sent humans to the moon. Soon, they will take humans even farther to places such as Mars and beyond.

NASA’s Space Launch System will be the most powerful rocket the agency has ever built. When completed, SLS will enable astronauts to begin their journey to explore destinations far into the solar system. Credit: NASA

Early rocket pioneers created what at the time seemed impossible – rocket-propelled devices for land, sea, air and space. When the scientific principles governing motion were discovered, rockets graduated from toys and novelties to serious devices for commerce, war, travel and research, and made some of the most amazing discoveries of our time possible.

Every space rocket ever built was constructed with a specific mission in mind. The Bumper Project in the 1950s combined a small WAC Corporal rocket with a V2 to test rocket staging, achieve altitude records and carry small payloads for investigating the space environment. The Redstone missile was designed for explosive warheads but later adapted to carrying the first American astronaut into space. The Saturn V was designed to carry astronauts and landing-craft to the moon. It, too, was modified and used to launch the first U.S. space station, Skylab. The space shuttle, perhaps the most versatile rocket ever designed, was nevertheless a payload and laboratory carrier for low-orbit missions and was used in assembly flights to the International Space Station . The myriad potential uses for NASA's future Space Launch System remain to be seen, but plans include carrying robotic spacecraft to places in our solar system that might harbor life, such as Jupiter's moon Europa and Saturn's moon Titan, and carrying crew in the Orion spacecraft to the Moon, and possibly farther into the solar system than ever before – to an asteroid or even Mars.

Learn more about the history of rocketry and the inspirations that ultimately led to humankind's first journeys into outer space here.

Each rocket has a unique design that's dependent on the mission at hand, but they all have a few essential parts: the fuselage, the fins and the nose cone. The fuselage is the main body of the rocket. The fins provide stabilization and are placed symmetrically around the circumference of the fuselage near the tail. And the nose cone is secured to the top of the rocket to aid in aerodynamics by piercing the air.

The stomp rockets in this activity, while simple, can have a surprising amount of variability in the altitude they achieve. By eliminating drag and streamlining their designs, students can make their rockets fly higher. The rockets won't reach Mars, but if designed properly, they can reach more than 50 meters!

Build the Launcher: This should be done by the instructor prior to launch day.

Launch and Track the Rocket: Safety Note: Use caution when launching the stomp rockets. Keep all students clear of the launch tube and the landing area. Allow only one student, the stomper, to be near the launcher, and be sure the launch tube is pointed away from the stomper. Only retrieve rockets once they have landed.

Write a Post-Flight Mission Report:

Generate and compare multiple possible solutions to a problem based on how well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints of the problem

Plan and carry out fair tests in which variables are controlled and failure points are considered to identify aspects of a model or prototype that can be improved

Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process to determine how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the problem

Analyze data from tests to determine similarities and differences among several design solutions to identify the best characteristics of each that can be combined into a new solution to better meet the criteria for success

Develop a model to generate data for iterative testing and modification of a proposed object, tool, or process such that an optimal design can be achieved

Support an argument that the gravitational force exerted by Earth on objects is directed down

Solve problems involving scale drawings of geometric figures, including computing actual lengths and areas from a scale drawing and reproducing a scale drawing at a different scale.

Make formal geometric constructions with a variety of tools and methods (compass and straightedge, string, reflective devices, paper folding, dynamic geometric software, etc.). Copying a segment; copying an angle; bisecting a segment; bisecting an angle; constructing perpendicular lines, including the perpendicular bisector of a line segment; and constructing a line parallel to a given line through a point not on the line.

Draw (freehand, with ruler and protractor, and with technology) geometric shapes with given conditions. Focus on constructing triangles from three measures of angles or sides, noticing when the conditions determine a unique triangle, more than one triangle, or no triangle.

Measure angles in whole-number degrees using a protractor. Sketch angles of specified measure.

Giving quantitative measures of center (median and/or mean) and variability (interquartile range and/or mean absolute deviation), as well as describing any overall pattern and any striking deviations from the overall pattern with reference to the context in which the data were gathered.