Well hi, scientists! I'm Reggie from the California Science Center
and I'm here to make you feel a little less stuck at home!
So today, or really all week, we've been talking about air and how things move through air, right?
So you've seen different activities being done,
you probably had the chance to check out some of our activity sheets!
So if you haven't, definitely check them out at californiasciencecenter.org,
where you'll see the Stuck at Home Science link there.
So definitely go ahead and check those out, but!
One activity we haven't done today and we have an activity sheet for is the straw rockets!
So I have my straw rocket here! I actually built it a little bit earlier.
So let's go through what the straw rocket looks like first and then we're gonna go ahead and test it!
So!
Let's start with the body. So how do you actually build the straw rocket itself?
So what I did was I took a sheet of paper. Now, if you don't have a sheet of paper, but you do have straws at your house,
you can use either one, right? So I had a bunch of printer paper at my house
and all I did was kinda just fit it over the straw that I have here.
Now, I'm actually using one of those reusable straws, right?
So, you can use a reusable straw, you can use a plastic one, but I prefer to use a reusable, because I can
wash it when I'm done and use it for other things and I can do other projects with it, right?
So what we're going to do is actually get the shape, so all I did was simply put the piece of paper over the straw itself,
and got the shape, taped it off on the sides here, so you can see there's tape
along the sides here to kinda make sure those seams or those openings are closed.
And then if you're following along on the activity sheet or if you're seeing the activity sheet,
it actually says to go ahead and close one end of your straw rocket, okay?
So that one of the ends, it can be either one,
but you're going to close one end off.
And that is actually going to help reduce what we call 'drag'.
Now drag is a force of air that is actually pushing back on your rocket when it's traveling through the air.
Right, so we want to reduce as much drag as possible,
so that we can have our rocket fly pretty much as quickly as possible through the air, right?
Or travel as quickly as possible through air.
Alright, so we talked about the body, we talked about this area here, which we're going to be calling our 'nose cone',
that's what it's going to be called,
and then we have these little pieces right here at the base of it or at the bottom, right?
And that's what we're going to call our fins!
Now our fins, you've probably heard this on different fish or whales or aquatic animals that live within the ocean, right?
Now, they use their fins to move through water, right?
And our rocket is gonna do something similar concept, where it's gonna go ahead and move through air!
So, let's actually test it out! So what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna turn my back and actually gonna shoot my rocket behind me!
Now as you can see, there is no one behind me!
So scientists, you wanna make sure that there is no one behind you
and you're not actually aiming your rocket at anyone for safety reasons, okay?
So, let's go ahead and try this out!
Alright, so let's get a countdown of three, two, one...
[Straw rocket launches]
Wow... [laughs]
Hey scientists, I think my rocket actually went about... about 8 feet!
So, here's the challenge! I actually have another rocket... somewhere, I don't know where it is!
But, that's fine!
But scientists, what I want you to do is to actually go ahead and test out your rockets,
and then use the hashtag #StuckatHomeScience.
What I want you to do is tag us on Instagram and Facebook so we can see your versions of your straw rockets, okay!
So really quick before we head out, I'm gonna go ahead and let you know,
definitely check out californiasciencecenter.org/stuckathome
where you'll see different activities that we have and then we're actually going to be doing more activities next week!
Might have a couple more lives, we're actually going to be talking with Dr. Chuck,
who is going to tell us a little bit more about kelp!
So scientists, from my home to yours,
I hope you're feeling a little less stuck at home! Bye!
[Music]
Be sure to visit our website, Monday through Friday at 10AM for more Stuck at Home Science activities!