Time:
10-20 minutes
What you'll need:
Plastic bottle, vinegar, baking soda, pencils or other object to stand your bottle up, tape, a cork or homemade bottle stopper, paper towel, funnel (optional)
Before you start: You can only launch your rocket outside!
Instructions
:
·
Empty your plastic bottle and decorate it if you wish.
·
The pencils will be the legs of the rocket. Tape them to the bottle so that they extend about 2 inches past the opening and are evenly spaced. Check to see if your bottle can stand up on the pencil legs.
·
Turn the bottle right side up and use the funnel to pour in some vinegar. You want the bottle to be about half-full.
·
Grab a single paper towel from the roll. If there are multiple layers in the towel, separate them so you have just one thin layer. You’ll only need a small piece of the paper.
·
Scoop one heaping tablespoon of baking soda and dump it into the center of the piece of towel you tore off. Wrap the towel around the baking soda so it’s a snug bundle small enough to fit through the opening of the bottle.
·
Grab the bottle, the bundle of baking soda, the stopper, and take it all outside.
DON’T do the next step inside – please!
·
Outside where you can make a mess safely, you’ll need to think about how to do the next five steps quickly to achieve a successful launch. You need to:
o
Push the paper towel-wrapped baking soda into the bottle
o
Snugly twist the rubber stopper into place in the opening of the bottle
o
Give the rocket a quick, hard shake
o
Set the rocket upright on the pencils
o
Stand back!
·
If you get some vinegar and baking soda on you, don’t worry! Just wash off and try again.