Educational Resources
Resources for Teachers and Youth Group Leaders
General Educational Resources
Take advantage of our experience in educational rocketry by using the set of free online resources listed below. Our guides are full of practical suggestions. They are produced by members who have helped teachers and youth group leaders like yourself all over the United States.
NAR Email Education Resources and our e-Newsletter—Would you like to have a rocketry program at your school or know more about how to use rockets to teach math and science? Sign up for our e-mail Educator Newsletter by completing our survey.
Adventures in Rocket Science Educator Guide—Produced by a partnership with NAR and NASA through the NASA Explorers Institute, this 166-page guide contains 25 progressive rocketry activities designed for 4-H Clubs, Boy and Girl Scouts, after-school programs, and other informal education venues. It can also be used in K-12 classrooms since all lessons meet national science standards and teach motion, velocity, and acceleration through inquiry and measurement. The material begins with elementary level activities with simple air launched straw rockets, moves into water bottle rockets and concludes with NAR model rockets and high school level exercises. This guidebook will prepare your students to form a rocket club or get them ready to enter TARC.
NASA Rocketry Resources—NASA publishes a wide range of online reference resources on rocketry suitable for classroom and student use, ranging from basic rocket science theory to specific information on the basics of model rocketry.
How to Build a Model Rocket—NAR volunteers have produced a tutorial on how to build a model rocket. It includes nine pages of tutorial and a 45-minute instructional video. The tutorial and video are for rocketeers of all ages on the steps and techniques involved in building and flying a basic model rocket. The video has been divided into six short segments of four to nine minutes duration and are posted online by the NAR’s TARC partners, the Aerospace Industries Association on their YouTube site. The six segments are:
Part 1: How Model Rockets Work
Part 2: Components of a Rocket
Part 3: Construction
Part 4: Finishing the Rocket’s Fins
Part 5: Assembling the Rocket
Part 6: Painting the Completed Rocket
Basic Rocketry Presentation. If you need a short presentation that explains what the hobby is all about, how rockets work, and who the NAR is, try “This is Rocketry”, a 20-slide presentation developed by the NAR specifically for school audiences.
Resources for Educator and Youth Group Leader
- STEM School Curriculum Using Model Rocketry—A curriculum written by professional educator Tom Sarradet for middle and high school level classes that meets STEM educational objectives using rocketry, primarily through the process of designing and building a payload-carrying rocket for the Team America Rocketry Challenge.
- Safety Overview—Explain rocketry safety issues to parents or principal with this two-page guide.
- NAR Model Rocket Safety Code—The official code of rocket safety, used as reference by the National Fire Protection Association, in a PDF form for easy printing.
- Rocket club development plan for 4H—How to start an informal education rocket program with 4-H or an after school club.
- Scout/Youth Group Guide—Flying rockets as a class activity? To make your launch a success, you can’t be without these hints and checklists.
- Science Fair Guide—Help students prepare for a science fair with this five-page manual; containing tips for organizing a project, presentation ideas, and suggested projects.
- Paper Tiger Rocket Plans—Need a low cost rocket students can build? Try a proven design originated by a middle school teacher.
- Low Cost Launch System—Got rockets but need a low cost launch system? Ted Mahler’s set of plans and instructions can put a fully functional launcher in each student’s hands for about $5.
- Educator’s Brochure —A brochure about NAR rocketry explaining our education resources.
- Girl Scout Patch Program—Brownies to caddettes can earn a patch in Rocket Science 101.
- NAR Rocketry Basics—A 12-page tutorial on how rockets are put together, what makes them stable, how to build them, and how the motors work.
Grants and Scholarships
Robert L. Cannon Education Grants. The NAR offers support to teachers who use rocketry in their classrooms via our Robert L. Cannon Education Award program. You’re eligible to apply for our grant if you’re currently holding a teaching certificate in your state, you have a model rocket activity in place at your school, and you’re willing to write an article about that activity or another rocketry education experience for our magazine, Sport Rocketry. Please download our complete instructions and application form for a Cannon Education Award by clicking here.
NAR Student Scholarships. Finally, the NAR has a limited number of scholarships available annually to students. All applications must be postmarked by June 1. The student applicant must be a NAR member in good standing between the ages of 17 and 22, who is planning to attend, or is currently enrolled in a college, university or technical school. Award amounts and number are sent annually by the NAR Board of Trustees. Please free free to download our complete instructions and application form for an NAR Scholarship by clicking here.
NAR Kids Fun Pages
Families have fun on the flying field, but what about the children that are too young to launch with the big kids? Do you ever have youngsters on the range that need a little something extra to keep them busy? Offer them the activities on these pages. They are rocket related games that they will enjoy on the field or in the classroom!