May Project Update #1

My first day at Challenger Learning Center began with me checking in with Robert, my supervisor for the duration of my May Project.  He introduced me to a couple of people that I would be working with, and I was given my first assignment:  help direct one of the "missions" that are held for visiting school classes.  This particular mission was for the children, who are usually in 6th grade, to design and fly a rocket made from approved materials while keeping within their budget of $1,000,000 (the materials such as craft paper were priced at $150,000).  The teams started out by assigning themselves jobs and creating their "business license" which would help clarify who had which job should any conflict arise.  Then, the budget director of the team would draft up a budget for their team consisting of materials and "fuel" for the rocket (air pressure).  My job during this was to ensure that the math was correct and no one was trying to buy more supplies than they were allowed.

Soon after, the teams were able to purchase their supplies and get to work.  I was the "cashier" so to speak, so I immediately found myself swamped with children trying to grab their precious masking tape, card stock, and Elmer's Glue.  After which, I was to check in with the teams and give small hints to keep them on track.  The majority of the time I just had to tell them that the answer was in their instruction packets.  After about 45 minutes, it was time for the first test launches to begin.  The teams brought their rockets outside and, after showing the "safety coordinators" of each team how to operate the launching mechanism, we fired off the rockets one at a time.  During this time, the groups gathered data such as how well their rocket fired and how stable its flight was.

Then began the 20 minute period dedicated to repairing and improving the rockets.  This was more or less an easier time since the teams had a better understanding of how things worked at this point.  Many teams were able to make considerable improvements to their rockets, with one even going twice as far as it had originally with a very small increase in fuel and modifications to the nosecone.  Finally, the winners were announced and the kids were dismissed for their lunch.  I had forgotten mine at home, so I went out and got lunch at the local McDonalds (much to my discontent).

The second half of my day started with me updating the inventory of model rocket parts.  There isn't much to write about for this, since it was simply me emptying buckets of explosive rocket engines, counting them, writing that number on paper, and putting them back into the bucket.  The fun part came soon after, where I was given the task of helping a staff member create the model rockets to prepare for the summer camps.  I built the "Viking", the "Valkyrie", and the "Toob'Oh!".  All of which resulted in more superglue binding my hands together than I am willing to admit.  After they were finished, my day was over and I went home.

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Day two of my May Project started with me putting the finishing touches on the three rockets that I made yesterday and "customizing" them (my supervisor refuses to let us say "decorating" because, according to him, you decorate your living room and you customize your rocket).  Finally, it was time to launch them.  We went to an open field across the street and set up the launch pad in preparation for our rockets.  After calling out the kids inside so that they could watch, we shouted out a countdown and fired them off one at a time.  The grand finale was "The Decaf-inator", a special rocket that Robert had made out of coffee cups.

The Decaf-inator

After all that excitement, it was time for the kids to have lunch, so in the meantime, I cut and stripped Ethernet wires for a summer camp project.  The remainder of the day was devoted to me sorting and labeling inventory.