October Sky

During homeroom last week my class watched the movie October Sky. October Sky was based on the true story of Homer Hickam, who dreams of leaving his small town of Coalwood. Homer, with the help of his his friends, manages to build rockets and win a science fair. Homer almost ended up staying in Coalwood as a miner like his dad. Despite all odds Homer was offered many scholerships and won the science fair. Homer and his friends were blamed for a forest fire and were no longer allowed to launch rockets, however using trigonometry Homer was able to prove himself innocent. This movie was a perfect example of math in the real world and rocket science. Homer uses a series of complicated equasions and calculations to determine how far a rocket would travel and where it would land. Homer even determined where it would land after wind effects the rocket in his head. Using a book his teacher gave him Homer was able to build rockets that could fly over 3000 feet in the air. This same book taught him the trigonometry that proved him innocent. From the start Homer tried to use aerodynamics to build rockets, but when that wasn't enough he was forced to use science to find a stronger fuel and a stronger metal.