JoinExploration Generation
Rocketry-Themed Lesson Plans, Curriculum Storylines & Professional Learning
Ignite imagination and inspire a new space-age generation
Exploration Generation (ExGen) provides K-12 educators with engaging, classroom-ready lessons and resources to help immerse students in real-life applications of STEM while exploring various concepts in aerospace, engineering, and rocketry.
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), Estes Education, and NSTA launched ExGen to inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers and bring high-quality, research-based aerospace education to classrooms nationwide.
Sponsored by:
20% off supplies for NSTA and AIAA members
Free Resources
Elementary • Middle School • High School
Elementary
Launching the James Webb Space Telescope Unit
Lesson Plan 1
How did they get the James Webb Space Telescope into space?
Time: Two 50-minute class periods
Lesson Plan 4
How do you launch a heavy object like the rocket carrying the JWST?
Time: Two 50-minute class periods
Lesson Plan 5
How can we use what we know about weight and thrust to plan a safe and successful model rocket launch?
Time: Two 50-minute class periods
Lesson Plan 6
How can we use the patterns in motion we observed to explain how the JWST was launched into space?
Time: Two 50-minute class periods
Weather & Rockets Playlist
Lesson Plan 1
How can forces exerted by weather conditions affect the flight path of our model rocket?
Time: Two 50-minute class periods
Lesson Plan 2
How can we predict and measure weather conditions at our launch site to recommend a safe launch date?
Time: Two 50-minute class periods
Lesson Plan 3
How can we plan a safe and successful model rocket launch?
Time: Two 50-minute class periods
Middle School
Model Rocket Safety Unit
Lesson Plan 1
What can we do to ensure safe and successful model rocket launches and landings?
Time: Two 50-minute class periods
Lesson Plan 4
How is energy transferred to the gas particles during ignition?
Time: Two 50-minute class periods
Lesson Plan 5
How does a parachute’s design affect the speed of descent and landing location of a model rocket?
Time: Two 50-minute class periods
Lesson Plan 6
How can we plan a safe model rocket launch and landing?
Time: Three 50-minute class periods
Model Rocketry Forces Playlist
Lesson Plan 2
How can we plan a rocket launch for successful recovery system deployment?
Time: Two 50-minute class periods
High School
Asteroid Orbits Unit
Lesson Plan 1
Why did the path of Dimorphos change when DART collided with it?
Time: Two 50-minute class periods
Lesson Plan 2
What causes an object to orbit another object instead of crashing into it?
Time: Three 50-minute class periods
Lesson Plan 3
What variables affect the size of the gravitational force acting on an object in space?
Time: Two 50-minute class periods
Lesson Plan 4
Why do planets and asteroids have variation in the size and shape of their orbits?
Time: Two 50-minute class periods
Lesson Plan 5
How did the direction of the applied force affect Dimorphos’s orbit?
Time: Two 50-minute class periods
Lesson Plan 6
Can we predict what will happen to the speed of an asteroid after a collision?
Time: Three 50-minute class periods
Lesson Plan 7
How can we use our model to explain the change in Dimorphos’s velocity post collision with DART?
Time: Two 50-minute class periods
Combustion of Rocket Propellants Playlist
Lesson Plan 1
How did the Ariane 5 rocket launch and deliver the JWST to L2?
Time: Two 50-minute class periods
Lesson Plan 3
How can we track the flow of energy when propellant is burned?
Time: Three 50-minute class periods
Lesson Plan 4
How did the solid and liquid propellants generate the right amount of thrust for each phase of the Ariane 5 + JWST system’s flight path?
Time: Two 50-minute class periods
Rocketry Basics and Safety
The National Association of Rocketry’s Safety Code
Over 500 million model rockets have been launched since the hobby’s founding. The National Association of Rocketry’s Safety Code procedures have created safe launch experiences for students, teachers, and hobbyists alike.
New to Rocketry
Whether you’re a rocketry expert or a beginner, reviewing the basics is always a great place to start.
Funding
Funding your next rocketry experience in your class may be a concern. If you are a title 1 school, you are eligible to apply for the AIAA ExGen Title One Grant. For the 2023 – 2024 Academic Year, we will be awarding five $1,500 grants to educators at Title 1 schools. Awarded projects will receive funding to support engaging and inclusive implementation of STEM and aerospace-related projects.
Not a Title 1 School?
If you are not a title one school and still need funding for your project, you can find a list of relevant education grants.
About the Sponsor Organizations
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 91 countries, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. AIAA supports students from classroom to career, as it continues shaping the future of aerospace. Continuing this progress depends on the exchange of ideas – and AlAA provides the environment where educators and innovators can come together and grow the ideas that will one day change the world. Because of our commitment to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, your AlAA Educator Associate membership is FREE. For more information, visit www.aiaa.org or follow AIAA on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.
Estes Industries was founded in 1958 by Vern and Gleda Estes and found a home soon after in Penrose, Colorado (the model rocket capital of the world). Through more than six decades of hard work and innovation, Estes has grown to be the leading manufacturer of model rocket engines, kits and accessories. As of April 2018, Estes Industries is once again a family-run business, committed to enabling safe, successful flights for customers everywhere.
Estes is committed to delivering interdisciplinary STEM resources and tools to educators that give them the skills and confidence necessary to elevate learning. Estes has been a leader in STEM education for 63 years, reaching 500,000 students annually.
To learn more about Estes Education please visit www.edu.estesrockets.com