Rockets Rise in Upper School Physics

By Alex Carlin ’22
In a year plagued by many differences, one aspect of the Upper School physics curriculum was maintained: the annual physics rocket launch. True to Parker’s progressive learning philosophy, physics students took learning about rockets to the next level—and built and launched them instead!

For the past month, physics students have been building rockets and making rocket launch calculations. Students who were learning remotely had a kit of materials sent home so they could also build rockets and return them to school for classmates to launch the rocket for them. Students were learning about many different physics principles: kinetic energy, potential energy, thermal energy, chemical energy, momentum, conservation of momentum, Newton's Laws, force, velocity and acceleration.

All students built Estes Viking Rockets—made from cardboard, plastic and elastic—that were about 12 inches tall. Estes Viking Rockets normally fly 200 feet high. These rockets were artfully constructed and decorated with colors, flags and artwork.

The rocket-building culminated in a rocket launch. On Saturday, May 15, all of Parker’s physics classes had the opportunity for a rocket launch! Many enthusiastic students showed up to launch rockets. All rockets launched successfully, some travelling very high into the air!