Middle & High School Students Share Aeronautics Knowledge

Jasper County Middle School (JCMS) students from Blast Off Academy have been working with Jasper County High School Biotech students this semester.

The middle school students have visited the high school twice to participate in rocket challenges. On the first visit, Blast Off students were given limited materials and time to design a thermal protection device that would protect their astronauts in the extreme temperature of a blow torch. The astronauts were made of glue and when the heat reached the astronauts (glue) they separated from the rocket.

The Blast Off students have been studying rockets in their academy this semester and have enjoyed designing and launching bottle rockets. The students returned to the Middle School with the challenge to Rethink and Redesign. NeAnn Wooten, the Blast Off Academy teacher, helped her students apply the engineering design process to improve their thermal protection devices before the second visit.

On the second visit to the high school the Biotech students taught a lesson about heat transfer using popcorn and how to keep the heat from melting your glue astronauts. The middle school students visited the high school again for extended experiments and rocket blasts.