MHI Employees Teach a Science Class to Elementary School Students in Ibigawa Town, Gifu Prefecture

First, the children made rockets using the long plastic bags commonly used in Japan to hold wet umbrellas when not in use. The bags were inflated with air, and the children performed various flight tests, each time adjusting the position of the rocket's tail, the weights attached to it, and so on. In this way they learned the principles that enable a rocket to fly stably through the air. In the second half of the class, the children then made rockets using small plastic film cases. In this instance, they experimented with launching a rocket by means of the thrust generated when a foaming bath agent is mixed with water, producing carbon dioxide gas. Here, the children learned the principle of how a rocket flies in reaction to the release of a powerful jet of gas.