5, 4, 3, 2, 1, we have liftoff!

Yes, it IS rocket science! The grade 8 students at St. Thomas More have recently propelled themselves into more hands-on science. The year wasn’t going to end in the traditional way, so why not have them get fired up about rocketry? Building rockets that carry an egg payload was the perfect complement to the famous and well-loved egg drop science project.

Model rocketry is an amazing way to incorporate science, technology, engineering, and math into a fun, engaging, and challenging activity. Blessed with training from a parent alum who happens to be a rocket enthusiast, and with help from a former STM student who is a quick study, we taught basic rocketry with digital learning from home. A rocket kit was purchased for each eighth-grader and video tutorials and instructions were created to aid with understanding of the concepts. The nose cone housed the egg, which needed to stay intact during launch, apogee, and recovery.

It was exciting to see what the rockets looked like on launch day. Students were given individual meeting times to learn more about the launch process, launch their payload rocket, and do the roof egg drop experiment. The attached altimeter showed some rockets made it as high as 321 feet.

When students understand the physics and fundamentals of how a model rocket works, they will understand how any rocket works. Look out NASA! Rocketry is awe-inspiring for all grades, skill levels and across subjects. We look forward to launching our K-8 rocketry program at St. Thomas More this fall. Until we gather again—GodSpeed.