
From Newton to NASA: Overcoming Inertia in the Classroom or "May the Force Be With You"
An Integrated, Interdisciplinary, Thematic Eighth Grade Study of the Laws of Motion and Their Application to the Development of Space Flight. The study of rocketry provides a foundation for learning scientific concepts as well as the importance of the space program in world relations. The existence of the United States space program was influenced by political events during the Cold War of the 1950's and 60's. The technology developed within the space program has profound effects on the materials and technologioes taken for granted in everyday life. Model rocketry provides the vehicle for exploring Newton's laws which describe the physics of flight.