Astronomy Unit Study - Rocket Crafting

Week 5: We learned about the history of space exploration and then crafted rockets, satellites and space vehicles.

Man on the Moon (Picture Puffin Books)is one of my personal favorite picture books for young kids (preK-3rd grade). It tells the story of the first moon landing in a way children can easily understand, but manages to include some technical details.

Buzz Aldrin is one of the three heroes in the book and he was recently scheduled to visit our local air force base. His new book Look to the Stars is a children's book packed with details on the history of space exploration.

Using toilet paper tubes, egg cartons, tape, glue, rubber bands, aluminum foil, pipe cleaners and paint or a similar set of crafting supplies many designs are possible.

Cardboard egg cartons make wonderful nose cones for rockets.

Redstone Rocket

He is surrounding the nose cone with aluminum foil.

Rocket on the launching pad

Mars Rover

A newly designed satellite

Another Satellite

Unfortunately Buzz Aldrin's appearance was cancelled due to health reasons so we never got to meet him. None-the-less, the kids had a great time crafting and learned quite a bit about exploration.

 

This post is linked to:
The Bender Bunch
Relentlessly Fun

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