REFLECTION

By: Anastasia Chiarini

This year marks the second time I have designed and built a SECME water bottle rocket.

Our current design was based on specific instructions to use a 2 liter bottle with a conical top

(Instead of a rounded top which would result in more drag). We used a birthday hat for the top

of the rocket which we super glued on. Next up the ballast, what we did was cut up foam strips

and filled the bottle half way. Then (one of the hardest parts) we had to cut out the fins and

carefully glue them on with the exact measurements according to the guidelines. And lastly we

decorated it with multi-colored duck tape. Oh and I almost forgot we had to add a ping pong

ball to the top because the sooth material it was made out of made it more aerodynamic.

Speaking of which, that was one of the things that went wrong. We thought that a pointy tip

was more aerodynamic than the ball but it was wasn’t. Another obstacle we faced was that one

of the fins kept falling off the side so we glued it again. But, then the moment we thought we

were finally done the fin broke in half so we had to glue that again too. Overall though

everything worked out in the process of building the rocket. My expectations are that we do

decently because after all it is not always about winning it’s about having fun!!!