How to Build a Rocket Car
Rocket cars are great for kids to build, and they make fun school projects. Rocket cars are a good lesson for Newton's Third Law of Motion, which states that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Once you build the car, have a contest to see which car goes the farthest.
Things You'll Need
- Styrofoam meat tray
- 4 Pins
- Masking tape
- Flexible straw
- Scissors
- Small round balloon
- Rocket car patterns (available online)
Instructions
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1
Gather all your materials. If you're working with more than one child, the process will go faster if you have all of your materials ready to go.
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2
Lay your rocket car pattern on the meat tray and cut out the parts. You should have one rectangle, four wheels and four hubcaps. Scrap pieces of the meat tray can be used if you want to build a second car.
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3
Blow up the balloon and let the air out. That makes the balloon easier to blow up when it's time to run the car. Tape the balloon to the short end of the flexible strap, and tape the long end of the straw to the rectangle.
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4
Use the pins to fasten the wheels to the rectangle. Push a pin through the hubcap, through the wheel and into the edges of the rectangle.
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5
Blow up the balloon through the straw. Squeeze the end of the straw to keep the air in the balloon. Set your rocket car down, let go of the straw and watch it go.
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Tips & Warnings
Lay several tape measures on the floor to determine which car goes the farthest.
Tie a loop of string around the balloon after it's inflated. Then, use that loop as a guide to blow up the rest of the balloons. That ensures everyone's balloon is the same size, and that makes for a fair contest.
If you'd like to build a rocket car out of more permanent materials, kits are available for purchase online. Typically, these kits include everything you need to build your own rocket car.
