The junior Honors Chemistry class experimented by making bottle rockets with baking soda and vinegar.

Student teacher Mr. Purdue said he wanted the class to have a positive experience before leaving for Spring Break.

The class assignment was to build the best bottle rocket. Whichever rocket reached the highest altitude after testing would be named the winner.

For the first part of the class, four teams created their version of a bottle rocket.

Junior Jacob Hecker said he thought the experiment was fun to participate in.

“This whole thing is really radical,” Hecker said. “Mr. Purdue is great for letting us do this.”

Junior Jeanie Balzer said she thought this was a great way to end the semester.

“I enjoy all this hands on working,” Balzer said. “I can focus on the project and not all of the work that follows. Experiments like these will leave memories that we can all share as a class.”

Junior Karen Guzman said the experiment was better than the usual homework.

“It’s cool that we can do this,” Guzman said. “I think we learn more doing things like these than with all of the homework.”

After the bottle rockets were completely made, Mr. Purdue instructed the class to head outside for launching.

Unfortunately for the group in the above video, the rocket did not ever leave the ground.

The next group, however, did a lot better.

At first, the rocket didn’t launch. But after the video ended, the rocket suddenly exploded into the air.

Two of the four groups ended up calling a tie between them. Mr. Purdue offered prizes at the end of the class period to the groups that won.

Balzer said she wanted to participate in future experiments like these.

“I just feel like this is beneficial,” Balzer said. “We bond as a group and we can learn so much when we really put effort into it.”

To view a slideshow of the bottle rocket experiment, click here.