SHAWNEE TOWNSHIP, OH (WLIO) - It was a countdown to launch today for students at Shawnee High School.
The annual Bottle Rocket Launch competition is a yearly physics experiment for Shawnee teacher Bob Sunderhaus. Students are split into groups and make their own bottle rocket with a plastic 2-liter bottle and other materials. The bottle is then launched from a pressurized hose and measured to see how far the rocket travels in meters. Some of the rockets traveled as far as 130 meters. The experiment showcases their creativity and teamwork, as well as their knowledge of physics, and is a fun way to end the school year.
"The whole like innovation aspect of it, like you are building a rocket and you're competing too with everyone in the other classes. So like if you do well, then this is what I made, and this is how far it went, and that's what's so fun about it. Like you're excited to see how far it goes; you're excited to figure out if it doesn't go as far as you'd like it to; why didn't it go as far as you'd like it to; and it really makes you think, How do I make this the best possible project that I can?" stated Leen Salem, a student at Shawnee High School.
"Yeah, this was probably one of my favorite classes ever. I didn't take physics or advanced physics, so this was my first physics class, and I've had a lot of fun. It's been challenging, but I've had a lot of fun in this class, and I thank Mr. Sunderhaus for all his hard work," commented Ribka Eyob, a student at Shawnee High School.
"In terms of the genesis, I really wanna give a shoutout to Buddy White, a long-time science teacher with Lima City Schools, a legend. And he's the one who introduced me to this whole project, and I've been doing it for around 30 years now. The project is intended to be a fun end-of-year kind of an activity that encompasses a lot of the physics concepts that the kids have been learning throughout the year. Newton's laws: impulse, momentum, forces, projectile motion. And it's just a fun day, you know, so it's really a lot of fun to do," said Bob Sunderhaus, physics teacher at Shawnee High School.
Mr. Sunderhaus plans to retire at the end of this school year, but past students of his who are now teachers are carrying on the bottle rocket launch experiment tradition.
