Rockets:

Seth has been itching to learn about rockets. I checked out a book called The Jumbo Book of Space...which is VERY cool and I will use it again for next weeks Solar System lesson.

The lesson sort of expanded from rockets to space vehicles in general. Here is what the kids knew at the beginning of the lesson:

Hannah: The space shuttle is kind of like the Vomit-tron at the fair. The rockets carry the space ship off the earth.

Seth: I saw a movie at preschool that had a spaceship with the jets and the spaceship came off the back and it was small then.

So we talked about how rockets worked...and how when the fuel burns off one section and it breaks off, etc. We talked about space shuttles, satelites and the space station. We talked about astronauts, space suits, and orbits. We talked about how the first rockets used gunpowder. Now they use fuel. We talked about how space shuttles piggy back on rockets and detach after they break through the atmosphere. We talked about the history of living things in space. We covered a time line of major events in space.

We did an experiment with balloons...seeing how the air escaping out of the balloon was much like the air released from rockets as the fuel burns. We launched a cup using a long balloon and a short balloon.

And at the end we colored and put together these rockets...left over from their space themed birthday party 3 birthdays ago. Can you guess which one is Hannah's?It has now been launched.

What they learned:

Hannah: People actually live up in space sometimes. The first rockets used gunpowder to launch. A space shuttle blew up and killed 7 people.

Seth: Rockets are launchers. The first living thing in space was a dog, and he died. A space station is a place where they live in space. Rockets use gas to take off.

Next week: The Solar System.