This is a great hands-on laboratory experiment in which the students explore forces, specifically Newton's 3rd Law of Motion - action and reaction forces. In the activity, students build balloon rockets with the goal of experiencing action and reaction forces. The lab report is engaging and rigorous. It is a perfect activity for active young adults! Students follow the scientific method in creating hypotheses, recording data and observations, analyzing results and forming conclusions. In follow-up questions, they apply their understandings to NASA and rocket science. The activity and lab report are aligned to 7th-grade science essential standards.
Minimal materials are required: Balloons, straws, strings, and tape.
A rocket's movement depends on Newton's Third Law of Motion – For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. When a rocket blows out gas at high speed in one direction (action force), the rocket is pushed in the opposite direction (reaction force). In other words, when there is a force on one thing in one direction, another force is acting on something else in another direction. The gas pushes against the rocket and the rocket pushes back just as hard against the gas.