(COLORADO SPRINGS) — Colorado Springs School District 11 (D11) partnered with the University of Colorado Colorado Springs (UCCS) and Lockheed Martin to let 5th graders launch into learning in a fun way.
“The goal is to give everybody the opportunity, especially to catch them early in 5th grade, especially the young ladies, to give them an opportunity to see what it is, whether they become STEM or not,” said Tom Walker with Lockheed Martin. “Maybe, maybe not, but at least it’s an opportunity for them to know.”
Over the course of a week, students learned about lift, gravity, and flight of rockets while they built their very own miniature spacecraft.
On Wednesday, April 30, the students put their rockets to the test, launching them off at Memorial Park.
“We have a data scientist and each one of our student teams are collecting data… which went up the highest, which stayed in the air the longest, which floated down the slowest, and then they’re going to produce results,” said Michael Gaal, Superintendent for D11.
Allowing students to see if rocket science is something they are interested in.
Jario Riviera, a 5th Grader in D-11 gave advice for future 5th graders saying, “Don’t be afraid of the rockets. just trust yourself and do whatever it takes to do the rocket.”
