Described here is an educational event, with hands-on laboratory exercises demonstrating the fundamentals of rocket flight, and live chemistry demonstrations illustrating the fundamentals of rocket propulsion. The event, for 7<sup>th</sup> and 8<sup>th</sup> grade students within the area, was developed by the local Mojave Desert Section of the American Chemical Society and the China Lake Museum Foundation. The China Lake Museum Foundation is dedicated to preserving the history, and educating the public about China Lake’s contributions to our nation’s warfighters. Due to the location and experience of the volunteers, the event had the unique capability of being led by experts in the field who were able to share their passions for rockets and chemistry with the students. Four hands-on laboratories and four demonstrations were performed with 60 students, broken into four “rocket teams”. The laboratory exercises and demonstrations covered topics including model rocket components and assembly, rocket stability, propulsion, safety, chemical reactions, gas generation, and catalysis in propellants. The event concluded with model rocket launches. The first objective of the event was to provide students with hands-on educational experiences in rocket science, encompassing experiments that they would not likely see in their formal education. The second objective was for students to understand the underlying concepts such as rocket stability, center of pressure, center of gravity, total impulse, propellants, energetics, chemical reactions, gas generation, and how all of these areas come together to provide a basis for the design of rockets and missiles. The third objective was to excite these students about chemistry and rocketry through interesting and unique experiments, and inspire them to continue to learn after the event has concluded. To gauge the success of our pedagogical goals, students were provided with pre- and post-event surveys. Finally, to help facilitate this continued educational goal, rocket kits were gifted to the students at the conclusion of the event.

Inspiring future rocket chemists - a hands on instructional event highlighting the role chemistry plays in the fundamentals of rocketry

Fall 2022 abstracts, posters, and presentations will launch in mid-September.

ACS Fall 2022

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.