STEM Event - Soda Straw Rockets & The Engineering Design Process

For the Dahlgren Heritage Museum's next free STEM session, the first fifteen 3rd-9th graders to register will participate in designing a Soda Straw Rocket.

Through this activity, STEM Champion and instructor Dr. Daniel Wallace and Jon Dachos will give students an excellent opportunity to practice the engineering design process. They will be provided with a template to create a rocket that can be launched from a soda straw. They are then challenged to modify the design to see how the changes impact the rocket’s performance. Length, fin shape, or angle can be changed–one variable at a time–to see how the rocket launch performs and to compare it to the control design.

Background:

Modern rocket design began near the beginning of the 20th century. While much has been learned, and rockets have grown larger and more powerful, rocket designs are still improving. Engineers developing new rockets must control variables and consider failure points when improving rocket designs. By changing one variable at a time, engineers can determine if that change leads to an increase or decrease in performance. They must also consider how their design might fail and work to improve their design. These incremental changes allow engineers to improve rocket performance and increase the amount of mass they can lift into space.

Today:

NASA’s Space Launch System, or SLS, is a rocket that will allow for human exploration beyond Earth’s orbit. When complete, SLS will be the only rocket capable of sending an Orion crew capsule – the exploration vehicle that will hold the crew – and cargo to the Moon with a single launch. SLS may also create new possibilities for robotic scientific missions to places like the Moon, Mars, Saturn, and Jupiter.

Parents/guardians are welcome to wait at the museum or to return for pickup at 7:30 p.m.  Adults are asked to sign a consent form for photos to be used by the museum. The event is free, but donations to the museum are appreciated.