| Objectives
I created a rocketry program to introduce the fields of aerospace and
aeronautical engineering to children in Highland Park, Michigan (only
program in Inner City).
Last year Carver Academy’s Team America Rocketry
Challenge Team #5605 qualified to go compete in the National Finals
(the only team in the Detroit Area). The Team America Rocketry Challenge
(TARC) is an engineering design competition sponsored by NASA, NAR (National
Association of Rocketry), and AIA (Aerospace Industries Association)
that focuses on introducing students (7th-12th grades) to real-world
engineering design cycles.
The students must design a custom rocket that carries
several payloads to an altitude of 800 feet with the total flight duration
of 45 seconds. The students use engineering software suites (SpaceCad
and RockSim) to model the rocket in a virtual setting. The students
perform flight tests and stability tests to save time and money on physical
design.
Next, the students build a physical design of the rocket
using advanced rocketry techniques and basic materials. Lastly, the
students perform flight tests of the rocket to verify the computer simulation
results.
Approach
What is particularly unique about this program is that it has never
been implemented in this area. Neither the city of Highland Park nor
its school system has ever had a rocketry program. The students have
been introduced to a number of concepts that will aid in the transition
to high school. Rocketry’s high-powered lift-offs are enough to
inspire the young and old alike. Students first build kit rockets and
then build custom rockets using CAD software.
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Relevance
The students in the inner city have to have a tangible connection to
the material presented to them and how it can help them not only in
the future, but today. One of the wonderful things about integrating
rocketry into a school is that you can draw from numerous Grade Level
Content Expectations and align the project with STEM concepts. Along
with the visits to universities the kids can see how all of this knowledge
“pays off.” The children can see that success can come from
the classroom and not from the hard streets they see every day.
Assessment
The students in the rocketry program have sparked interest in students
all over the school to perform better in class so that they can gain
entry into this program. MEAP scores in the school have been up consistently
in math and science since this program has been initiated. The rocketry
team has sparked interest from the media, political arena and community
leaders. Every year the team becomes more competitive at competitions.
Last year 750 teams from 48 states entered the TARC competition.
The top 100 teams in the nation were invited to Washington, D.C., to
compete for $60,000 and a trip to the Paris International Air Show.
Our little team from one of the poorest regions of the state represented
the state of Michigan. This shows the measurement of the students’
hard work and dedication.
Challenges
Some of the challenges in trying to introduce children to these topics
have been the students’ ability to take information and do independent
thinking. The processing of information read by the students and then
applying that to a specific problem has been a challenge. The kids have
to be taught to think on their own. Finance has always been a challenge.
Carver is in the middle of a very poverty-stricken area, and getting
support is very difficult. Donations from parents and teachers have
supplied the programs so far. The rocketry team has a Mantis Launch
system and an Interlock electrical ignition controller.
The project challenges for this design contest were many.
After physically designing the rockets from the computer plans, the
students performed many flight tests. During the flight tests students
learned that computer simulation only gets you close to your goals.
The altitude of 800 feet was more elusive than they suspected it would
be. Wind speed and direction, launch angle, air temperature, and other
factors would affect the altitude of the rocket. Varying conditions
would produce many different altitude calculations via the altimeter.
The students overcame many of these challenges. We won
two awards at the finals although we placed 85th out of 100 teams.
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