Students build water rockets

Sussex-Wantage, Ogdensburg and Hardyston middle school students placed first, second and third, respectively, in the annual STEM League Challenge on May 7 at Wallkill Valley Regional High School.

The challenge was to create a water rocket. Points were awarded based on the distance that the rocket traveled.

Also participating were students from Lafayette, Frankford, Montague and Sussex County Charter School.

The competition was organized by students at Wallkill Valley and High Point Regional High School.

Teams of six students each were provided with supplies, including two-liter water bottles, cardboard, duct tape, hot glue and several sports balls, such as baseballs, softballs, tennis balls and lacrosse balls.

The research, planning and construction took place in the engineering and wood shop classrooms at the high school. Students used a laser cutter to make wooden tailfins from provided designs (the team decided the dimensions).

Students from Wallkill Valley’s engineering classes and High Point’s STEM League helped the team members use the laser cutter and test their designs.

Throughout the construction phase, Michael Napovier, a Wallkill Valley engineering teacher and one of the coordinators of the event, talked to each team and offered support and suggestions.

During the testing phase, students had control over the angle of the launcher, the amount of air pressure pumped into the launcher and the volume of water filling the rocket.

Each team had unlimited practice tests; after each test, most teams regrouped to make changes to their designs.

The students also were asked to answer several questions - some were real-life science problems that applied the math needed for this project while others were about their specific rockets.

Each team wrote a problem statement, sketched two designs, justified which design they chose and predicted what would happen when they tested their rocket.

Their answers were considered by the judges as a part of the final score.

The team of three judges visited each team while they were working. Later, the teams showcased their findings and justified their choices, then answered questions posed by the judges.

Students were asked to explain their mistakes and how they adjusted, examine their team’s dynamic and describe their biggest fear about testing among other questions.

The judges were Larry Hildebrand and Bob Logiudice, both retired teachers from Wallkill Valley, and Bill Warger of Thorlabs, sponsor of the event.

Thorlabs, which has been a part of the STEM League Challenge for the past three years, has paid for materials, T-shirts and prizes at the event.

Planning for the event began in October, when High Point and Wallkill Valley students met to decide on the challenge.

In March, Wallkill Valley students Grace Insalaco and Audrey Newsome, juniors in the Engineering 3 class, took the reins. They coordinated and created the documents that students would use during this challenge, including the rules, rubrics and questions.

Both are on the Wallkill Valley STEM League Team and compete in competitions.

“A lot of what we took came from our experience,” Newsome said.

Teams were scored in four categories: documentation (research, designs and testing notes), science lab (math problems), test results (from the final testing of their rockets) and presentation (presenting their ideas and processes to the judges).

The Ogdensburg team was awarded best presentation, and the Sussex-Wantage was awarded best documentation.