Worksheet · Ages 7–10 · 20 min
Label the rocket
A parts-of-a-rocket labelling sheet using a real Falcon 9, with a word bank and an answer key. One page, no signup.
This is a Falcon 9. It is 69.8 metres tall and 3.7 metres wide — about as tall as a 20-storey building standing on its tail. Write each word from the word bank next to the right part.
Word bank
- Payload fairing
- Second stage
- Interstage
- First stage
- Fuel tank (RP-1)
- Oxygen tank (LOX)
- Grid fin
- Landing leg
- Merlin engine
1. How many Merlin engines are at the bottom of the first stage?
2. Why does a rocket carry a tank of oxygen as well as a tank of fuel?
3. What are the grid fins for?
4. What is inside the pointy bit at the top?
Draw an arrow showing which way the hot gas comes out, and which way the rocket goes.
For the grown-up
- The common wrong answer to the oxygen question is "to breathe". Nobody is aboard a Falcon 9 on most flights — the oxygen is there so the fuel can burn.
- If a child asks why the fins are not smooth like aeroplane wings: grid fins work better at very high speed and fold flat against the rocket on the way up.
- Extension: the nine engines together push with 7,600 kN. Ask what happens if one stops working. (The rocket can usually still finish the job on eight — that is part of why there are nine.)
Every number on this sheet comes from: Falcon 9 Block 5 — specifications · Merlin rocket engine family