Only a very cool teacher gives this kind of homework to her students… “Using only construction paper and tape, I want you to design a rocket.” Lisa Heaton, the Gifted and Talented teacher showed her students a specially designed rocket launcher made out of PVC plumbing parts from the local hardware store. The idea for the PVC rocket launcher comes from U.S. Space Camp for Educators curriculum. I had the privilege of assisting Mrs. Heaton with the launch of the paper rockets. As the students will share in the comments below, the first launch revealed their design strengths and flaws. The five students with the best launch served as mentors for the rest of the students as they returned to the classroom to repair and redesign their paper rockets. The second launch proved to be the real learning experience - be sure to read comments from the young rocketeers below.

“This rocket launch activity coincides with the students reading Rocket Boys (also known as October Sky) by Homer Hickam. I want these kids to experience first hand the feeling of failure and success through the trial and error process of building their own rockets… and this air-powered rocket launcher does the trick,” says Lisa Heaton as she turns to help a 5th grader repair a rocket that didn’t fair well during the first launch.

These 5th graders are also using this hands-on science experience to learn about the science of blogging (pun intended). Student bloggers from Mrs. Heaton’s class in past years posted blog comments about their rocket experience that were even read by Homer Hickam (the author of October Sky) himself. Be sure to read the student comments below.

Imagine being in 5th grade and having your teacher give you a model rocket to build as your homework assignment. I visited the “Rocket Kids” at Willow Creek Elementary this morning in Centennial, Colorado, to help Mrs. Heaton (a modern day Miss Riley from Homer Hickam’s October Sky) launch rockets with her students. Aside from the thrill of getting to jam an engine into the bottom of a rocket, I asked the students to reflect on what they learned in the process and how it related to the book October Sky.

Each of the students was asked to post a blog entry about their experience. Mrs. Heaton had this to say…

Class, I was so pleased to see the learning and enthusiasm before, during and after our rocket launch today! You asked great questions about the differences between the paper rockets launched with air and the powder model rocket engines used with the commercial rockets we built. I was thrilled to see how the calculation team formed. As soon as you learned the formula for determining approximate altitude of the rockets, we had a crew assemble themselves with stop watch, calculator, clipboard and pen in hand! Awesome application of new knowledge!

I want you to think about the questions below now, after our launching experience with Steve today. Please blog your responses as soon as you can..

1. What emotions or thoughts did you have that can relate specifically to one of the characters in Rocket Boys/October Sky? Explain
2. How did the rocket launching experience enhance the reading experience? Be specific
3. Try to explain one “scientific connection” that you learned during this launch.

Homer Hickam’s official website is filled with great resources for teachers. Mrs. Heaton has been using lesson ideas from the website with her students for several years, and posted some of the fun on her website.Imagine the students’ surprise when Homer Hickam’s wife, Linda, posted a comment on Mrs. Heaton’s blog and even sent an autographed picture and a letter from the author.