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| Baranoff Elementary Rocket Club
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The Rocket Club at Baranoff Elementary is a group of students interested in Aerospace topics from several classrooms who met on Tuesdays after school for a few months to learn about rockets and put together a booth for Austin Science Fun Day.
First, the group studied Newton's Laws of Motion and basic concepts that cover what makes the rocket go. Then they learned about Center of Pressure, Center of Gravity, and basic concepts of rocket design. Teachers in the photos and move are Roger Stryker and Melissa Dunaway.
| A movie that covers the Baranoff Rocket Club's adventures from building and flying through the presentation of rocketry concepts through straw rockets at Austin Science Fun Day. (time 6:41) | 
movie by Steve Rogers | (21.7 MB) |
Armed with this information, they drew out rocket shapes on paper, predicted the stability with CP and CG estimation, and then they built rockets.
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| Making parachutes | Finding the CG | A Swing test |
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| Rigging the recovery system | Check fin alignment |
Once the rockets were built and tested (a few needed extra fin area and nose weight), it was time to send them to the air.
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| Almost ready to fly | Countdown | Will it ever light? |
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| Countdown | Load 'em up | Careful with the clips |
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| Hopeful countdown | Grimace to make it go faster | Igniter install |
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| Rockets away! | A lesson in attaching clips | Liftoff! |
After everyone had a good understanding of CP and CG concepts, the group set out to build an exhibit for Austin Science Fun Day that would illustrate these concepts for visitors. We decided to let the visitors build straw rockets and experiment with fin size and placement. The day turned out cold, but everyone had a great time and hundreds of straw rockets were built.
AARG members Steve Rogers, Jim Parker, and Peyton and Debbie Randolph turned out to help staff the booth at Austin Science Fun Day.
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| Building the Display | Booth at ASFD | Student booth staffers |
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| Ready to build straw rockets |
