On Friday, October 20th, Center for STEM Education staff participated in UP Academy Dorchester’s inaugural Spark: A Day of STEM Exploration! Over 600 middle schoolers from the Boston area came to UP Academy to join in hands-on activities to help them engage with and think about STEM concepts.
We brought paper rockets as our activity! Due to the organisation of the day — the middle schoolers rotated in groups with their classroom teachers and stayed at each table for about 10 minutes — we had to slightly modify what we would typically do with that age group. The students worked in teams to design, cut out, and attach fins to their rocket bodies! This activity offers an opportunity to discuss STEM concepts such as aerodynamics and symmetricality, as well as other skills critical to engineering such as collaboration, grit, and creativity.
The students loved launching the rockets outside on the school field! There was a lot of space to spread out, so we were able to have them go to where they thought their rocket would land. The rockets would usually go much further than they thought, which is always exciting!
It was a really fun day! Thank you UP Education Network for this incredible event!
Students are designing and cutting out fins!
Such an exciting event to be a part of!
How far will the rockets fly?
Students hard at work on their rockets! Which colour fins would you choose?
3…2…1! Let’s get ready to launch!
