4 of July Air-Powered Fireworks Summer STEM Challenge

Celebrate the 4th of July with a hands-on Air-Powered Fireworks STEM Challenge that brings science, engineering, and patriotic fun together.

In this engaging fireworks STEM activity, students design and build a firework rocket that launches through the air using the force of air from a straw.

Perfect for Independence Day, summer STEM, force and motion lessons, patriotic classroom activities, and America’s 250th Birthday celebration, this low-prep challenge helps students explore force, air pressure, gravity, trajectory, testing, measurement, and graphing in a memorable way.

What Students Do

• Design and build an air-powered firework rocket using simple classroom materials.
• Launch their firework using air from a straw and observe how force and air pressure affect motion.
• Test their rocket multiple times, measure how far it travels, and record their results.
• Create a bar graph to compare launch distances across trials.
• Learn key vocabulary including force, gravity, and trajectory.
• Extend the challenge by testing different launch angles to see which makes the rocket travel the highest or farthest.

What’s Included

• Teacher instructions
• Student challenge letter
• Ask, Imagine, and Plan page
• Firework rocket printables in color and blackline
• Launch line printables
• Vocabulary cards
• “What’s the Science Behind This?” explanation page
• Firework recording page
• Firework graphing pages
• Writing pages
• Engineering Design Process posters
• Makerspace consumables and non-consumable materials lists
• Canva lesson slides link