IHI Holds Plastic Bottle Rocket Class in Tokyo
IHI held a plastic bottle rocket class at Tokyo Taiken Marche in Shibuya on January 28, 2024. The venue was Jinnan Elementary School in Tokyo’s Shibuya Ward. This experiential event aimed to inspire children to literally and figuratively reach for the skies. It featured outdoor booths from companies, universities, local volunteer groups, Shibuya City, and other entities. The organizer is affiliated with Japan’s National Institution for Youth Education, which champions STEAM, an educational approach combining science, technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematics to foster creativity.
IHI’s booth embodied the company’s commitment to the STEAM movement. It highlighted manufacturing prowess and encouraged children to develop an interest in science by enabling them to use such everyday materials as plastic bottles and milk cartons to make and fly rockets. Another goal was to stimulate their interest in IHI’s pivotal space business.
IHI employees helped the children build and launch their rockets after presenting simple illustrations of the action and reaction force principles of rocket flight. On learning that those forces also occur when pushing off the ground, the children enthusiastically jumped up and down to better understand the concept. They then set about rocket construction, joining two plastic bottles and using milk cartons to fashion fins. At launch time, IHI personnel ensured complete safety by keeping people out of the launch area. They then held countdowns to takeoff with the children. The booth proved a huge hit, attracting a long line of eager prospective participants.
IHI’s plastic bottle rocket class greatly impressed the National Institution for Youth Education, culminating in an agreement to provide IHI’s teaching materials and instructional manuals at that organization’s educational events (see note).
The IHI Group will continue providing STEAM learning opportunities to cultivate tomorrow’s manufacturing leaders.
- Note: Related news release (in Japanese only)
IHI Underscores STEAM Education Commitment by Providing Online Instructions for Making Plastic Bottle Rockets at Special Experiential Plaza at Yoyogi-no-mori Community Center