On September 29, 2015, Kesling Middle School’s 8th grade class shot off rockets in Kesling Park.
This memorable project has been entertaining students for close to fifteen years. Each student bought their own rocket. They then spent a week and a half assembling them in their science classes. Throughout the day, groups of students traveled to eight different stations tha included timing, safety, preparation for launch, and take off. Students timed how long each rocket stayed suspended in the air and calculated the height of each rocket. They finally entered all of this information onto spread sheets.
One of Kesling’s 8th grade science teachers, Mr. Griffen, was supervising the students as they launched the rockets.
“We have prepared since the beginning of the school year. It was a nice change of pace for the students,” Griffien said.
One of the other teachers who was present for the event was Mrs. Hawkins. She was in charge of guiding each student on how to calculate the height of their rockets. Mrs. Hawkins described the day as a great opportunity for the students to experience working together as a team.
“This project incorporates both math and science. In math class, students learned the equation to determine the height of the rocket a couple of days before the actual experiment,” Mrs. Hawkins explained.