Today I was reminded about the joy of soda bottle rockets as the kids were watching an episode of The Magic School Bus about air pressure. I decided to build some with the girls.
We used bottles with different shapes. Aurora’s rocket (left) is the Flower Power, using a 2-liter Sprite bottle. My rocket (center) is the Citrus Blaster, using a 1-liter Smart Water bottle. Cadence’s rocket (right) is the the Lightning Bolt, using a 1-liter CocaCola bottle. The fins are made of foam core board and the nosecones are made out of poster board. I used generous amounts of packing tape to attach the parts and protect them from water. By the way, the trick to removing the adhesive left behind when you remove the bottle labels is butter. Just rub butter over the adhesive and then clean with dish soap.
Our launch pad was a small cardboard box I cut a hole in and covered in packing tape. Aurora’s Flower Power rocket flew the highest, Cadence’s Lightning Bolt rocket had the most control. My Citrus Blaster flew the lowest and least straight. Blaise was pretty impressed with the launches, and eager to use the pump some day. Next time we want to try taking slow motion video of the rockets launching.
