Water bottle rockets
In this activity, students make a water bottle rocket. They investigate the variables that affect the height and distance travelled by the rocket.
Making a water bottle rocket
Geoff Searle, Head of Science at Shirley Boys’ High School in Christchurch, demonstrates how he builds a water bottle rocket using 1.5 litre plastic bottles, a golf ball and an ice cream container for fins. These water bottle rockets are very aerodynamic and can travel a horizontal distance of over 200 m with a pressure of just 80 psi
By the end of this activity, students should be able to:
build a rocket out of a plastic bottle, using water and air pressure to generate the thrust.
design a nose cone and fins that help the rocket travel as far as possible by increasing stability and minimising drag.
investigate some of the variables that may affect the distance travelled or height reached by the rocket.
This activity is ideally done after the teaching and learning activities Introduction to rockets and space and Effervescent canister rockets
Blast off!
Science teacher Geoff Searle works with a student to test a water bottle rocket.
Download the Word file (see link below) for:
introduction/background notes
what you need
what to do
extension ideas
student worksheet.
Useful link
This computer simulation will help students understand the physics of water bottle rockets and investigate parameters that will lead to the highest launch.
