Armagh Planetarium took part in Engineering Open House Day on Friday 3rd August with their very own Rocket Launch Challenge.
The Planetarium hosted families and school groups for a one day special workshop demonstrating Isaac Newton’s Third Law of Motion – ‘For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction’ – just as a full-size rocket does.
Using a plastic fizzy drinks bottle, a nose cone, some tail fins and a few other ‘top secret’ parts, each child’s mission was to design and build a water rocket. Once constructed, the young rocketeers used their imaginations to decorate and officially name their creations – they were then ready for launch! The water rockets use a mixture of compressed air and water to enable them to fly. As you can see, there was plenty of fun to be had while learning about physics and engineering:
Engineering Open House Day is an annual event hosted by the Institution of Engineering and Technology to give children and their parents an insight as to what it’s like to be an engineer.
Through the Rocket Launching workshop, the children learnt about the scientific principles of forces and motion. Families had the chance to design, build and launch their very own water rocket. The workshop demonstrated the principles of engineering and hopefully inspired some of the young people to consider engineering as a career.