What Makes A Rocket Go? (1960s)

e this is just like a rocket this is the Sanford Street School in Glenn Falls New York these fourth graders are flying Rockets they have built themselves the scene is not an unusual one it is in fact rather typical what may seem unusual about these 8 and nyear olds is that they understand what rock [Music] the classroom experiences you are about to see were recorded as they happened on location at the Sanford Street School [Music] the classroom teacher is Miss Elizabeth hotton her students spend an average of 2 hours a week in the science program observing Miss Hon's class as a student teacher is Miss Suzanne Bailey a senior at the State University College at platsburg New York my C is really cold I wonder what makes it cold I don't know wondering what do you supp it's inside of it well I read on the package carbon dioxide and things in it well that's put on our list of problems and find out why it becomes cold when we w we yeah the children drew a flight line on the Blackboard based on their own arithmetical scales as one part of a full fourth grade curriculum the science program draws upon and further develops the skills of arithmetic social sciences and the language arts through a series of evaluation lessons we will review the highlights of six weeks of the science course misson when will we start work on our new list of problems that's a good question mark But if I remember some people last week told me that they had some things they wanted to show and tell Miss daily this week remember the plans we made yes I think we should do that first don't you uh let's go back and look at our um list of original problems uh Julie would you read them please a what makes a rocket fly B how can it fly without without wings say why is there no propeller on a racket everyone read [Music] D you read e Julie e does a rocket push on the ground when it blast off uh did we think these were good questions when we made them we thought they were when we made them why did we change them when we list for the meaning of the word fly in the dictionary the dictionary said the word fly most often means to move through the air on wings Rockets don't have wings and can move through other things besides air did we make any other changes we thought a ret pushed on the ground when it BL off push on the near Peter would you tell us again after we got going we started push down a John then we found out the push was on the inside of the rocket and nothing outside of it what one thing does does a b c d e s [Music] anyone find any answers to that problem where do we find our answer Joel I found some books at home Judy I some science book did you find anything yes John I thought up my it that's good Mara Miss hon may we show Miss Dar what we did with our balloons I think that'd be fun M would you like to B thank you [Applause] we show Miss da some of our other experiment that we did yeah right the free flying balloons were their first Rockets but since the flight of balloons was so unpredictable the class quickly began a series of experiments designed to overcome a basic problem how can you control the air rushing out of a balloon a simple and effective means was provided by the top of a common plastic squeeze bottle like many of the children Deborah Barton found this useful tool in her mother's kitchen Debbie's idea helped to solve the problem of air release while at the same time her experiment added the word friction to the class vocabulary [Music] list to help overcome the friction of the floor a major alteration was [Music] necessary well I think that one's making quite a trip don't you [Applause] yes how many times is that be the six minut [Applause] almost eight certainly went farther than Julie's didn't it how about you Peter what have you got there well this is a rocket bat I blow up the balloon and put it in the water and see what happened well that was almost like a motorboat wasn't it yes and John what have you I have a uh toy tank here and uh this is called a rocket tank I tied the neck of the bloom onto the tank with a string I'm going to blow it up and see what happen suhane food bags and paper clips comprised one of their first guidance Control Systems the experiments were gradually becoming more refined and complex and along with progress an occasional setback is it going to go all over like Judy did no there je didn't work soda straws on the flight line improved speed and control the nylon fishing line worked far better as a flight line than did ordinary strings what are you going to do Rhonda I'm going to cut a hole on the end of this balloon like this now I'm going to twist the end of the balloon I'll blow it up now got it will you tie this jail yeah thank you NY will you put the tape on why did you cut the hole in the balloon well to make a slower reaction slower you going to let it go now yes good it was much slower wasn't it yes George S and Billy are down at the bottom Nancy Clawson and I are at the top Billy has his foot under the flight line George nap is a straw through the FL flight line he is he is taping a balloon and to the straw I am holding the flight line up at the top are you ready George okay are you ready George are you ready George 5 4 3 2 1 it almost hit Mark in the face it did Have You released your balloons in enough different ways and enough different times to always predict what is going to happen Judy I'm satisfied we did Peter the balloons always R in One Direction and the air in the other direction have you thought about the reasons for this I found something in a science book that I think is good I found something too yeah would you like to tell us what you learned from your book I learned that another way to show how a rocket goes is by using a toy balloon now Joe would you please come up here with your [Music] balloon all right now Joe's balloon here is like my chart up here now uh when he blew up his balloon he pushed in air molecules so they would uh be close together and pressing against each side with the same amount of force all right Joe um would you squeeze your balloon all right now when uh Joe squeezed his balloon he pressed the air molecules closer together so they would be trying to get out with much more Force now uh release your hold and your balloon when he did that uh the air molecules went uh floated apart or moved apart and the bloom went back and to its normal shape may I have everybody's attention are you ready Scott let's look at number one uh Ellen number one says what is the meaning of law as used in Newton's Laws emotion could law have more than one meaning do you think could it mean things as well as people um I'd like to have some people look up the meaning of the word law this week and used in Newton's third law of motion are there some of them wouldd like to help Alan let's look at number two what other scientific knowledge did a Sir Isaac Newton give to the world how old was he when he first be when he began his first scientific experiments here we have a record about Sir Isaac Newton I think perhaps if you play This Record you may learn some things about some of the other um scientific inventions are now knowledge that he did give to the world are there some people that would like to work on this also I think we'd like to find out how old he was when he first started number three let's look at number three what illustrations can you find in the film strip library that help you to understand Newton's third law of motion uh remember back when we looked at some of these space films I think some people would like to go back again and see if they can find some illustrations of Newton's third law of motion let's read Mark third law of motion to every action there is always an equal and opposite reaction now I should like to have you look at number four because this is something that everyone is going to do be prepared to show an application of Newton's third law of motion what do I mean by the word uh application that's like an application to join the YMCA that could be one meaning of it George but would it be the meaning in this one no what would you think would be the meaning I think it could be an experiment or a report next week I like have to every single person do something about number four bring in many different things that would apply to Newton's third law of motion other things besides balloons if you need any help you may come to me during your um science work period this week and I'll try and help you find the things that you need and then besides number four everyone is going I want to see how many people can do that have something for number four how many things they can oh I know you can besides number four I'd like to have you choose one one of the other three several days later the children discussed the results of the homework assignment the word law while not new to the class had a new meaning as far as their science project was concerned now it became a statement of something which under given conditions happens over and over again Chris brummet listened to the long playing record and reported that Newton wrote laws about gravity as well as about motion the class was surprised to learn that Isaac Newton wasn't much older than they when he began to think about gravity and motion and that he wrote his laws when he was just 23 years old the young scientist could hardly resemble a white twister old patriarch often pictured in science books one of the homework essays was about Newton's school days his teachers it was reported did not consider the young Isaac to be especially bright what was even more unbelievable according to the report was the fact that they recommended no further schooling for Newton on the grounds that he was a very poor student now are we ready to um show that Newton's law of motion will work with many different things not just bom [Music] well when Peter went backwards the skates went forward and the action was when um was when Peter and I went forward and the um reaction of the skat and the reaction is the movement of the skates and now Billy is going to stand on skates and just step up when Billy stepped off the skat there was a smaller accident reaction the larger the jump the larger the action reaction my father told me about how a gun recoils the reaction of the gun is called The Recoil now uh when I pull the trigger like this the gun is going to uh go backwards like that you see when the uh um firing pin hits the bullet the uh bullet goes off in one way which is the action and the uh um force in which the bullet uh pushes the the force in which the uh gunpowder pushes the bullet down through the barrel is uh the action and the uh reaction is when the gun goes backwards real good when the uh water boil and the steam are collected in the uh cast tube the steam got so um um in around there it uh blew off the cor cor blowing off and the steam boiling and the water boiling was the action and the test tube going in the opposite direction was called the re is called the reaction that that is called gun record the steam is going to come out these nozzles watch for the steam coming out the nozzles and the steam engine turning around it's hard to see the steam even though it's coming out isn't it yeah we know it's coming out because what the steam engine is turning around so that means the steam's coming out the nozzles and where is your action the action is the St coming out with the nozzles and the reaction is the engine turning around in true scientific fashion there were numerous variations demonstrated over and over again there was a free exchange of props and ideas and many original uses of familiar objects who tried to show that for every action there was an equal reaction Diane I think Joel did with the roller skates he showed that when he jumped farther he made a bigger reaction and an action and when he made a smaller jump he had a smaller action and reaction we need to find out if we know the answer to our one main problem what makes the rocket go I think the best way to do this and to the answer the questions under it would be for us to write a report with the title what makes the rocket go uh you might use this as your outline and try and include in your report all the answers to these these questions how well you do this report will tell both you and me if we've answered our problem what makes the rocket go I've got my rocket done are we going to test them outside next Monday thank you for reminding me uh Scott that would give every one of us a chance to finish our rocket how many people have theirs finished now the others as soon as you finish your rocket you may bring them to me and get one of these cartridges be sure and wedge them in very tightly like um I showed you the other day the outdoor Rockets are powered by an ordinary carbon dioxide cartridge of the type available in hobby shops and drugstores these were excellent reports and show that you did a good deal of sinking and I'm sure that you've solved the answer to all the questions to the problem what makes a rocket go we'll have time for only a few of them the rest I'll put on the buling board and you can read them when you have time Julie would you like to start what makes a rocket go Rockets still go through the air when they blast off but out in space where there is no air wings are of no use airplanes and jets need wings for balancing steering and other things too without wings Jets and airplanes could not fly Jets will not work in space but a rocket will because a rocket needs no air and they jet does rockets do need oxygen because they carry their own in salad or liquid fuel in a liquid fuel rocket chains of liquid oxygen are pumped into the combustion chamber where they are ignited the rocket has the simplest kind of engine because it has only two main parts a simple rocket engine has no moving Parts the first part is the tube the second part is nazle if it is difficult for you to imagine a gas in some different form think of the fact that steam a gas comes from water a liquid which in turn can become ice a salad all three are the same substance at different temperatures in an actual Rocket Fuel and liquid oxygen burn fiercely when they combine the heat caused by combustion greatly expands these liquids so like so that like water turning to steam they become a gas the expansion takes place very rapidly and builds great pressure since there is a nazle at the rear the gas shoots out and the rocket shoots ahead a rocket goes because of the chicken side of the rocket a rocket has to go at a very fast speed to overcome the Earth's gravitation Mark has something to show us what I have here is a coke bottle baking soda and water and vinegar I have five pencils and they are spread on a desk about an inch away um I am going to put the vinegar in just a moment Mar you going that your experiment was something like John how is yours different well instead of using water and and making steam my I used soda vinegar and water oh I'm going to put the vinegar in [Music] [Music] what's your problem Mark well just so fast that I can't get down out of [Music] pencils if you didn't tell us what your problem is Mark perhaps we could help you you well the chemicals mix so fast that I can't get the cork on what do you want to do to the chemicals keep them apart so I have time to put on the cork perh there would be some other kitchen chemicals that we could work on that would slow down the action is there anyone else that would like to work on this help Mark out Chris told me that if he had a problem too I've been thinking about a racket way out thousands of miles in space out where there is no air I had been thinking too how a racket would leave the moon s to say there is no air on the moon I'd like to be able to take the air out of something so it would be like outer space to right the moon can you state that in a problem Chris how can we take the air out of something so it would be practical your alen will you write down Chris problem and Mark's problem that he wants to slow down the action so he can get the CL on the work of these fourth graders traces a familiar pattern of scientific research the resolution of the original problem what makes a rocket go now appears to be merely the beginning Natural Curiosity initiative and Imagination have led to a new set of problems a new class problem project the technological Hardware is as elaborate as balloons milk cartons and roller skates their resources are as far away as the school library and the houses they live in the children of Glenn Falls New York are just like children in every American city and town this has been a story of the teaching of Elementary science in the space a the project was conceived by Irene C Potter Elementary science coordinator Glenn Falls New York and June E Lewis professor of Science and Science Education State University College platsburg New York the producers of this program wish to acknowledge the cooperation of the Glenn Falls Board of Education Glenn Falls new New York for additional information on the teaching of Elementary space science write to National Aeronautics and Space Administration code afou Washington DC