Now that this project is complete, how do you feel about it? What things stand out?
I actually really enjoyed this project which to be honest I didn't really expect. I'm not that interested in rocketry so when Andrew said we were making rockets I was not at all excited. After making our rockets I am extremely glad we did this project. I was able to learn about rocketry in a fun way and I learned not to count things out til you try it.
What, if any, science or technological things did you learn from doing this project? What is necessary to understand to build a successful rocket?
The most important thing I learned was where to place your fins and how to find it out. It's a pretty easy process with some math involved but we were able to calculate it quickly. Another thing I was able to learn about fuel, what type of fuel works best for something, why it wouldn't work for another thing, etc.
What, if any, metacognitive knowledge did you gain? (what did you learn about yourself as a learner - work habits, work ethic, tendencies, etc.)
I noticed that during most of the projects we worked on I took control. I became the one who was in charge of making sure everything got done and looked nice. I like to have things a certain way and I will make sure it gets to be that way even if I have to do everything myself.
How did you collaborate with others in this project? (Who did you work with? What did you contribute? How did you operate as a group or unit?)
I worked with Handy and Nick for almost every project we had in Chemistry and we work well together. Most of the time the work was split up evenly but at times I would see one of us doing more work than the rest. My only regret is not working with other people, I know I work well with those two but I didn't get the chance to collaborate with my other classmates.
If you could do this project again, would you do anything differently? What advice would you give to the next class of rocketeers?
I would probably work with other people to see how our thoughts come together and to see what our end product would be. The only advice I have is to not rush things, do things one at a time because if you don't your calculations may be wrong and everything else will then be wrong. Rockets need to be calculated very carefully and the tiniest error could be drastic in the end.
Based on your responses above, what advice or suggestions would you give to Andrew to help him design a better rocket project?
I don't have any suggestions to give. I really liked how he ran the class and I liked what he taught us. He made chemistry fun and had us learn through hands on learning which I think is the best way to learn.