JOURNEYING WITH YOUTH
By Matthew Bentley, Riverview Head of Faculty – Science
As part of all HSC Science courses, students must engage in a deeper investigation which takes them beyond the curriculum, perhaps into areas of interest or topical science issues. This year, the preliminary Physics cohort undertook a Depth Study in model rocketry to investigate the factors which affect model rocket flight.
In particular, they were assigned to critique simple mathematical models and suggest improvements to better predict the flight of model rockets. The process included a student hypothesis of certain characteristics of flight, such as maximum velocity and apogee, and then the building and a video analysis of the flight of a model rocket – which students built and flew themselves.
Recently, 55 rockets were launched from Saint Ignatius’ College Riverview’s 1st Field. Permission had to be secured from the Civil Aviation Authority as we could potentially interfere with a commercial flight path – such was the speed and height achieved by the models we built. Conditions were perfect for flight on the day and we successfully flew (and recovered!) all rockets.
Real Science is done in the asking of questions, and in this case there may have been more questions raised than simple answers provided. A lot of good science was done here when students observed that simple mathematics could not account for what they measured.
Riverview Science is committed to providing these fun, rich and varied experiences to our students across all the Science disciplines of Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Earth and Environmental Science.