Over 200 people gathered at the Hilo Drag Strip on Saturday, July 29, to watch keiki launch rockets.
The Hawaii Science and Technology Museum hosted its third annual “Rocketry” event, which gives keiki the chance to build and launch their own rockets from kits they got at the museum.
Throughout the day, the kids tested their engineered designs and launched their rockets into the air. If there were problems, they could talk with volunteers from the museum and find out how to get their rockets ready for takeoff.
Waiakeawaena student Kainoa Costa and his father were so excited to see his rocket launch after working on the project all week.
“This is my first time doing this, and it was so cool,” Costa said. “This was my dad’s idea, and I’m glad I did it. He said that we could get a kit sometime to do it whenever we want to.”
Keiki participating in the event received their rocket kits from the museum and were able to build them during a work day to learn what it takes to make them launch-ready. They could also work on their builds at home with their families.
Christian Wong is the executive director of the Hawaii Science and Technology Museum and has worked to create programs that encourage interest in science, technology, engineering and math for kids of all ages.
This year, the museum decided to include more than just keiki in “Rocketry” and made it more of a family fun day.
“This is going great, by far our best one yet. Each year it gets a little bigger and little better, and the kids are having a great time,” Wong said. “We wanted to make this year a whole family event where families can bring pop-up tents, have some food, and play on the blow-up water slide.”
Riley Oka, 7, was excited to launch her rocket, even though the parachute didn’t deploy, causing damage to her rocket.
“I do robotics, so I wanted to try this for the first time. It felt amazing to see it go to high,” Oka said. “I painted it like a rainbow and worked on it for three days. I can’t wait to try it again and make it better.”
“Rocketry” was created as a fun way to introduce keiki to engineering projects that require creative problem solving.
“This really teaches them the engineering design process and how much can go wrong when creating something like this,” Wong said. “Maybe it isn’t wired correctly or the motor isn’t working. They have to go through the process of finding out what’s wrong and problem solve to get it working.”
Cara Henson, 9, had some issues launching when one of her wires wasn’t properly attached. Once she got help from a volunteer, her model launched high in the sky and parachuted down without issue.
“This was really cool to do and so fun,” Henson said. “It wasn’t too hard to make once I figured out the steps.”
“Rocketry” is the museum’s biggest event, and Wong plans to expand the program to Naalehu next spring, where the museum will also be starting a new robotics program.
“It is hard to kids in Ka‘u to travel all the way here for this event, so we want to make sure they have an opportunity once a year,” Wong said. “We want all kids to have the chance to participate and learn, and we think a robotics center will be great down there as well.”
The Hawaii Science and Technology Museum and Mokupapapa Discovery Center jointly support the Kenyan K. Beals Community Robotics Center, which offers a lab and practice space to local teams.
The museum has many outreach programs for keiki such as science camps, math tutoring, after-school programs, student research support, robotics competitions and other events.
Those interested in learning more about “Rocketry,” robotics or the exhibit hall can visit hawaiisciencemuseum.org.
Email Kelsey Walling at kwalling@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
