Rick Gunn/Nevada Appeal Matthew Byrd, 12, steadies his water- and air-powered bottle rocket for liftoff at the Carson Middle School basketball courts Tuesday.
Takeoff was not far away, the bitter cold having little effect on Matthew Byrd's efforts. His bottle rocket was going up in the air, that's all he knew.
"They come out here and launch bottle rockets hours on end," said his science teacher, Mary Stanley. "If they were allowed to, they'd be out here all the time."
First, Matthew put the three-pronged stand firmly on the asphalt, far enough away from anyone or anything, except a couple basketball hoops.
Then he poured water into the base of the rocket and stepped back to a hefty air pump. One pump, two, three. Swoosh.
The bottle rocket was up in the air, water exploding out during its takeoff.
Matthew watched it closely.
"The contest will be for the longest time aloft," he said. "We need to get the center of gravity and amount of pressure just right. That's what we're working on."
The 12-year-old is one of 17 Carson Middle School Science Olympiad students who will compete in March at the state Science Olympiad in Henderson.
"I think we have the rocket down pretty good," Matthew said. "We need to work on the fins. They make the rocket go straight."
Stanley has been coaching the team for four years. It has never won first place, but has come home with bronze and silver medals.
"These projects are far outside what they learn in the typical science class," Stanley said.
"Even when they learn about astronomy, it's not this in depth. This is a lot of work," she added.
Each student spends two afternoons a week after school in Stanley's classroom perfecting his or her project. Former Science Olympiad students London Snow and R.H. Campbell are helping.
Snow, 15, gives some tips about clay to four girls working on rebuilding an aquifer for the Awesome Aquifer task.
"This is something to do after school," Snow said. "It's fun."
Each student practices three to four projects on the list of tasks to do during the state competition. The top-place winner will compete in May at the national competition in Illinois.
"I'd like to see them win first place," Stanley said. "I want first. They want first."
Contact reporter Maggie O'Neill at moneill@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1219.
Science Olympiad
• Some of the students' science tasks at the state Science Olympiad include Awesome Aquifer, Bottle Rocket; Bridge Building, Can't Judge a Powder by Its Color, Dynamic Planet, Mission Possible, Naked Egg Drop, Reach for the Stars, Road Scholar, Robo-Billiards, Sounds of Music, Storm the Castle and Wright Stuff.
• The students can take some projects, like the Bottle Rocket, with them to the competition. Others they must construct there.
• For information on the Science Olympiad, go to www.soinc.org.
