student showing rocket to teacher

Long Beach Middle School sixth grade students worked together in groups of three to decorate and assemble their very own model rockets, and on May 25 and 26, they watched their work take flight!

Under the guidance of Director of Science PreK-12 Cristie Tursi, technology teacher Brian Pross and sixth grade science teachers led students in getting their projects set up to soar outside on the field. Equipped with goggles for added safety, the students sent rockets up into the sky and observed their travel speed, distance and intensity. Seventh grade classes will have the opportunity to do the same during the week of May 31.

Leading up to the launches, teachers organized supplies and plans for the activities, gathered take-home materials for remote students and created tutorials. The experience reinforced aspects of the physical science curriculum, such as action-reaction, Newton’s Laws of Motion and projectiles, with hands-on learning experiences for the young rocket scientists.