Exploring how the world works in Grade 2

If you happened to walk past the lower field last last month, you might have seen cones, strings, a four-wheel drive vehicle, and a miniature launch pad all set up for the Grade 2 Rocket Launch. Frank Louw, our primary school IT specialist, worked in collaboration with Emma Ten Cate and Anne-Marie Phiri-van Hooijdonk to design rockets with the students as part of the How the World Works unit of inquiry about forces. 

Students are inquiring into forces that affect how things move. In this demonstration, they learned how compressed air pressure can provide enough energy to launch a rocket about six meters into the sky. Mr. Louw reminded the audience of Newton’s principle that “every action has a reaction” and the audience marveled at the different flight patterns as a result of the launch.