Balloon rockets

Science and technology themed nights are always so much fun, although generally involve a lot of preparation on my part. To make things easier on myself and more girl-led, I went hunting for the perfect activity. I was thrilled when I discovered that Parkhurst State School had put together a comprehensive balloon rocket challenge that can be modified to use in a Guide meeting.

Balloon Rockets

Balloon Rocket Challenge from Parkhurst State School.

Image credit: Parkhurst State School

Supplies for balloon rocket:

• Balloons (18 girls used every balloon from the packet of 100)
• Straws
• Fishing line (about $4 at Big W)
• Masking tape

Extra supplies for experimenting:

• String
• Wool
• Plastic cord
• Different shaped balloons
• Peg
• Access to all supplies in craft cupboard

What happened?

We began in Brownie Ring with a discussion on basic rocket construction and the two challenges that they could choose between: make the fastest rocket (over a set distance) or make a rocket that can travel the furthest.

With their printed instructions in hand, the girls broke into small groups of two or three and began to work on building their rockets. After each group had set up their rocket and had a few run throughs, we sat down as a unit to discuss suggestions about rocket modifications and predictions about what the results would be.

Everybody went back to their group to make their final rocket modifications and have a few test runs. Then the Brownie Guides took turns in presenting their rocket to the group.

Our evaluation was done as a unit, examining the modifications different groups had presented and what worked best.


Safety Tips:

• The fishing line is near invisible to the eye (and what most groups used), so the girls put up chair barriers around their groups with little signs saying "watch out for the line!" I thought that was a pretty great idea!