As an initial activity heading into our Rocket Project, students formed teams and were tasked with building a rocket, or set of rockets, that can fit over a 1/2 PVC pipe. There was minimal guidance in this challenge, with teams tasked with designing and constructing rockets that they felt would be effective. My initial impressions were very positive. Despite minimal direction, the designs I've seen were incredibly creative. We'll see to their effectiveness during launch day. Below is the handout given to the students for this first challenge.
For launch day, student teams will score their rocket's performance according to the document below, which also provides additional details to the competition.