"Rockets #3"

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SCIENCE CONCEPT:

Newton's Third Law of Motion: for every action there is an opposite and equal reaction.

STUDENT OBJECTIVE:

The student will experiment with Newton's Third Law of Motion..

OVERVIEW:

The student will make a small vinegar and baking soda rocket to discover that for every action there is an opposite and equal reaction.

TEACHER TEXT:

PREPARATION TIME: 5 minutes

LESSON TIME: 15 minutes

TEACHER PREP:

Gather materials.

WORDS TO KNOW:

• chemical reaction
• gas
• expands
• push
• shoots
• forward
• rolls
• opposite

MATERIALS NEEDED:

• bottle
• cork
• petroleum jelly
• vinegar
• baking soda
• tissue
• round pencils

STEPS TO FOLLOW:

1. Coat the cork and bottle opening with petroleum jelly.
2. Pour approximately 1 1/2 cups of vinegar into the bottle. (The larger the bottle, the more vinegar needed.)
3. Place 3 teaspoons of baking soda in a tissue and twist the ends.
4. Slip the tissue into the bottle and quickly cork.
5. Place the bottle on its side on the pencils that have been placed parallel to each other on the ground.
6. Observe what happens. (The cork shoots forward, the bottle rolls in the opposite direction.)

WHY?:

Newton's Third Law of Motion states that for every action there is an opposite and equal reaction. In this case, a chemical reaction occurs when the vinegar and baking soda mix in the bottle. A gas forms that expands and pushes the cork forward out of the bottle. This is the "action". The bottle rolls backward in an opposite equal reaction.

ASSESSMENT: Can the student communicate what they observed?

4....The student is able to communicate that the bottle rolls backward as an opposite and equal reaction to the cork shooting forward out of the bottle.

3....The student is able to communicate that the bottle rolls backward because the cork shot out.

2....The student is able to communicate that the bottle rolls backward because of the vinegar and baking soda.

1....The student is able to communicate that the bottle rolled.

CURRICULUM LINK IDEAS: