Launching Futures: GPS Engineering Students Connect 5th Grade Space Exploration to Aerospace Engineering Pathways

Fifth-grade students at Oak Tree Elementary recently took their study of space to new heights - quite literally - by designing and launching bottle rockets on the school playground. Through a unique partnership with Mesquite High School’s Engineering Sciences Career & Technical Education (CTE) program, the fifth graders stepped into the shoes of aerospace designers, turning plastic bottles and cardboard into high-flying scientific experiments.

This collaboration was made possible by Alexis Mason, a Technology Integration Educator, who works with teachers and staff to incorporate technology into the classroom to enhance students’ educational experiences. In collaboration with Mesquite High’s Engineering Sciences CTE teacher, Jason Black, and Oak Tree Elementary’s Principal, Dale Lunt, Ms. Mason works to find real-world ways to connect what elementary students are learning in school with the advanced programs available at the high school. While Mrs. Mason coordinates the connection between the schools, the Mesquite High students are the ones who create, plan, and design the projects.

For the bottle rocket project, Mesquite High’s Engineering CTE students used their expertise to design and build a custom launch system from scratch. The team experimented with various materials, considering what would be practical and safe for 5th-grade students to use while remaining within a set budget. Ultimately, the team engineered a sophisticated system using PVC pipe and manual air pumps to create the necessary pressure for flight. Once the launchers were built, the high schoolers prepped all the essential materials, including plastic bottles, cardboard, and paper, to ensure the elementary students could focus on the creative side of the engineering process.

In the classroom, high school students then presented to 5th-grade classes to cover the basics of the launch systems, goals for the project, and different design options for the rockets. Using two-liter bottles and simple materials like tape and cardboard, groups of 5th-grade students created rockets with unique fin shapes and weight distributions to get their rockets to fly as high and as straight as possible. In this project, the high schoolers acted as consultants, helping younger students troubleshoot their designs and celebrating every successful launch.

The high school team - Alex Flores, Barrett Harstad, James Crosby, Mya Quintero, Nathan Le, and William Alatorre  - are students in the Engineering Sciences CTE program, which is offered at Mesquite High and Desert Ridge High School. Mesquite High is the only campus in the district to offer a specialized Aerospace Engineering pathway, where students study propulsion systems, the physics of flight, and orbital mechanics as part of Project Lead the Way curriculum.

Leading the Oak Tree event required more than technical knowledge. Students were responsible for project management, collaboration, and clear communication.

“If you can’t manage your time or communicate with your team, projects fall behind,” said Nathan Le, a fourth-year Mesquite High aerospace student. “Learning to catch problems early and adjust is something we’ll need in any engineering career.”

A junior at Mesquite High emphasized the importance of growth through experience.

By linking elementary lessons to advanced high school pathways, Mesquite High and Oak Tree Elementary - along with other schools across GPS - are helping students see the academic and career pathways available to them long before they reach graduation. 

To learn more about academic pathways across Gilbert Public Schools, including information about the Engineering Sciences CTE program, visit GilbertSchools.net/Teaching-Learning. To learn more about Oak Tree Elementary, schedule a tour at OakTree.GilbertSchools.net/Tour.