Chemical Reaction Rockets

After viewing the basics from the Carolina STEM Challenge: Chemical Bottle Rocket - Kits are available to purchase but are also easy enough to build your own or adapt the challenge for your classroom.  For younger students (2nd-4th grade I would not use chemical reactions.  This would simply be a balloon rocket race.  They can design the rocket they want and race them across the room on strings.  For the older students the designs from the kits area a great idea but can be altered to a different scale.  The 5 or 6th graders can use the plastic test tubes for the fuselage or they can use different sized plastic bottles.  Using the bottles would make them be more creative in their rocket design as they would have to find ways to work around the curvatures of the bottle.
Baking Soda Rocket STEM

  
With this idea I would adapt by using toilet paper cardboard or other carboard tubes with the elonggated balloon inside.


This could be adapted with the different types of propulsion, vinegar and chalk or baking soda, soda and mentos or alkaseltzer.