July 13th was the fourth River Concert Series event held at the St. Mary’s College of Maryland. We demonstrated two new activities: Alka-Seltzer rockets and straw paper airplanes, and returned once again with Oobleck.
Alka-Seltzer rockets where a blast (pun intended) and demonstrated how chemical reactions work. Film canisters were partially filled water and Alka-Seltzer tablets were added to create the explosive chemical reaction required to launch the rockets.
Kids were also able to construct their own plastic straw paper airplanes by taping strips of an index card to a straw. Some designs even travel farther than the traditional paper airplane! At one point we combined the two activities and attached a Alka-Seltzer rocket to a straw paper airplane and sent it soaring into the sky.
You can find more pictures from this event in our gallery.