Rockets

Nate had two rockets to shoot off today.  DRC purchased three engines with the agreement that he would use them as a group project at the Center.  We used the first engine last week, with great success.  The rocket came down with nary a scratch. 
Hannah and Conagher were here as well on this beautiful, blue sky, warm kind of day.  Perfect for blasting small bits of cardboard into the great blue beyond.

Nate put the finishing touches on the small rocket and we headed out to the SLU playing fields.  He connected all the wires and sent the small rocket up first...one wing came off in flight, the parachute detached from the rocket and a second wing broke off on impact. Despite an extensive search of the fields we did not recover the wing.  They did find the parachute though.

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He then shot the larger one that had worked perfectly last week.  It went straight up and then drifted towards the soccer field.  The body broke upon impact. 

Unfortunately the 'fun' only lasted for a few minutes.  Now Nate has two broken rockets.  I suggested that he could use the left over balsa wood to create a new wing and replace the one he lost.  He tried that, but it cracked.  Then I said, I wonder if you can make a rocket from everyday items----I should mention the two huge totes filled with assorted cardboard, plastic, and metal containers that I save just in case they can be used for something---
He proceeded to spend time looking it up on YouTube and then proclaimed "I can make a rocket just from the engines."  And, began to explain exactly, how it would work.  But in the process interrupted himself at least two or three with other great ideas. 
This is self-directed learning in a nutshell!  He was a bit depressed about his broken rockets. I (as the facilitator) made an observation and asked the "I wonder" question, stood back, watched the process and said that is awesome every once in a while.