Mini Missions: Flight Data Sensing

Grades 3-12; 155 min

Topics Covered

Engineering Design Process: Newton’s Laws, G-forces, 3D Printing, Flight Data Sensing

Overview

First, students will explore the engineering design process while creating simple balloon rockets. Then, students will examine Newton’s Laws as they relate to their experiment and learn about G-forces as they modify their designs. The lesson concludes with students 3D printing sensor sleds, designing their own payload experiment, and using data sensors to collect real flight data.

Materials

Activity 1: What is the Engineering Design Process?

  • Mini Missions: Flight Data Sensing Slide Presentation
  • Balloons
  • String
  • Straws
  • Tape
  • Rulers
  • Identify long, clear areas where string can be stretched between two points

Activity 2: Rockets and Newton’s Laws

  • Mini Missions: Flight Data Sensing Slide Presentation
  • Balloon Rockets from previous activity
  • Pennies (8+ per group)
  • Tape
  • Rulers

Activity 3: 3D Printing and Data Flight Sensing

  • Mini Missions: Flight Data Sensing Slide Presentation
  • STL file for Estes Data Sensor Sled
  • 3D Printer (participants can use a 3D printer at home, school, or many public libraries have 3D printers available for 3D printing)
  • Orbitron™ Bulk Pack
  • Plastic Cement
  • Clear Tape
  • Hobby Knife
  • Estes Engines: C11-3, C11-5, D12-5, D12-7, with Recovery Wadding, Plugs, Starters
  • Data Sensor of Your Choice
  • Launch Pad with Controller

Standards

NGSS_logo

4-PS3-1

Use evidence to construct an explanation relating the speed of an object to the energy of that object.

4-PS3-4

Apply scientific ideas to design, test, and refine a device that converts energy from one form to another.

5-PS2-1

Support an argument that the gravitational force exerted by Earth on objects is directed down.

3-5-ETS1-2

Generate and compare multiple possible solutions to a problem based on how well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.

MS-PS2-2

Plan an investigation to provide evidence that the change in an object’s motion depends on the sum of the forces on the object and the mass of the object.

HS-PS2-1

Analyze data to support the claim that Newton’s second law of motion describes the mathematical relationship among the net force on a macroscopic object, its mass, and its acceleration.

HS-ETS1-3

Evaluate a solution to a complex real-world problem based on prioritized criteria and trade-offs that account for a range of constraints.

HS-LS1-3

Feedback mechanisms maintain a living system’s internal conditions within certain limits and mediate behaviors, allowing it to remain alive and functional even as external conditions change within some range.

Common-Core-Standards-Logo

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.3.2

Determine the main idea of a text; recount the key details and explain how they support the main idea.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.2

Determine the main idea of a text and explain how it is supported by key details; summarize the text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.2

Determine two or more main ideas of a text and explain how they are supported by key details; summarize the text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.6-8.2

Determine the central ideas or conclusions of a text; provide an accurate summary of the text distinct from prior knowledge or opinions.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.11-12.2

Determine the central ideas or conclusions of a text; summarize complex concepts, processes, or information presented in a text by paraphrasing them in simpler but still accurate terms.

Estes-LP2-06

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