First, we had to create our mice from thick paper. Once all our mice were ready, we were given our launch vehicles which looked very much like milk cartons. We got into groups, and prepared for countdown.
The mice were carefully placed on top of the launch vehicle: we found this took a steady hand and a bit of patience. Once they were on, we all took part in the countdown. We couldn't wait to see how our mice would cope with the flight and where they would land.
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 ... blast off! Seven mice were launched on each countdown, as we used our hands to squash the launchers. Some of the mice flew straight up, others went off at an angle. They hit the ceiling, the wall, the door, the next-door table ... even George's head! It was hilarious!
After we had all launched our mice at least once, we thought about what was happening. We discovered that you didn't have to hit the bottle hard: even if you hit it softly, the mouse was launched but he didn't fly as high. However, the truly impressive flights happened when the launcher was slapped really hard. 
We realised that a lot of pushes were being used in the launch. We had to push the mouse onto the launcher; when we slapped the launcher, we were pushing the sides in; by pushing the sides in, we were forcing air out of the bottle which then pushed the mouse up. After the mouse had launched, gravity pulled it back down.Some of us decided to take our mice home, so that we could have a go at launching them again. If you have a Year 2 child in your house, you should watch out for low-flying mice!
