Aim for the Stars

Rocketry and physical science, taught in your classroom

Aim for the Stars brings hands-on rocketry and physical science instruction to middle school students in South Florida. Students build a rocket, launch it, and work through the physics that explains what they saw.

The program is founded and run by Nolan Arias, a student at NSU University School, and works with schools across the region, with a focus on Title 1 schools. Sessions are built around the science a school is already teaching, not around a fixed script.

Request a session Volunteer as a session leader

Delivered to date

Students reached

91
Students reached
2
Schools served
By school
School Students Delivered
Lawton Chiles Middle School Title 1 31 Water bottle rocket build and launch, plus states of matter
NSU University School 60 Estes model rocket launch on a commercial solid motor with parachute recovery, plus aerodynamic forces

On the day

What a session looks like

  1. Setup

    The program arrives with rockets, launch equipment, and build materials. The school provides the room, table space, an open outdoor area, and a teacher who stays with the class.

  2. Concept segment

    A short lesson on the physics behind the build: air pressure propulsion, states of matter, or the four aerodynamic forces, depending on the module the school selected.

  3. Build

    Students build in pairs, with about ten students per instructor.

  4. Launch and debrief

    The class moves outside for launches, then returns to connect what happened in the air back to the concept segment.

The instructor explains airflow to a group of students gathered around a fan and a rocket fin mounted on a workbench.
Concept segment on aerodynamic forces, NSU University School.

Schools choose a preset of one, two, or three sessions, and the content is tailored to the grade level, the schedule, and the topic being taught. See the three preset tracks and the module library.

Two activity types

Choose the launch your site can support

Students around a long table cutting cardboard fins and taping them to plastic bottles during a build session.

Water bottle rockets

Air pressure propulsion. Needs only an open field, and is the default for most schools.

Requirements

A class seated on the grass at the edge of a field, watching a model rocket climb overhead.

Estes model rockets

A-class solid motor with parachute recovery. Needs an open field and adult supervision of the motor and igniter.

Requirements

Host a session

Tell us your grade level, student count, and outdoor space. Sessions are scheduled around your calendar.

Request a session

Volunteer as a session leader

High school students 15 and older run builds and launches alongside the founder. No prior rocketry experience is required.

Volunteer