Without the mighty Saturn V rockets, there could have been no Apollo program and no humans on the Moon. Without the smaller, cheaper Delta II rockets, MGS and MPF would not have been affordable. This set of Activities will expose your students to some fundamentals of rocket science, and some key principles of physics. Simple balloon rockets, for example, offer great opportunities for students to explore the Laws of Motion. Objects at rest will stay at rest and objects in motion will move in a straight line at constant speed unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.
Force is equal to mass times acceleration.
In its simplest form, a rocket is a chamber enclosing gas under pressure. A small opening at one end of the chamber allows the gas to escape, and by so doing provides a thrust which propels the rocket in the opposite direction. There's a strong similarity between the mightiest rocket and a humble balloon. The air inside a fastened balloon is compressed by the rubber walls. When the nozzle is released, air escapes through it in one direction and the balloon is propelled in the opposite direction.