Year 5 Rocket Day

Year 5 pupils were excited by an amazing visit to Chew Valley School to study the Science behind rockets. The youngsters, from Birdwell School in Long Ashton, carried out a series of experiments before designing and building their own rockets.

 The day began with a look at the freezing nature of space. Liquid nitrogen instantly froze sausages which then shattered in front of their eyes. Then it was on to rocket fuels - hydrogen which 'pops' when lit, or explodes when firing a large drinks bottle. Also, methane which was caught in soapy bubbles and lit on the pupils' hands! Pupils then built tiny rockets from matchsticks and foil before building the 'real things' in the Design workshops. After lunch (with some dried Astronaut food, of course), the highlight was the firing of the rockets high up into the sky. They managed to reclaim all bar one, which remains on the Science laboratory roof!

 The pupils returned home full of enthusiasm for Science and Design. They were very grateful to Mr Davis and Mr Turner for their hard work in preparing such an exciting 'hands-on' day, and are all looking forward to secondary school in a year's time.