The tradition is simple: We watch the local groundhog and see if it will see its shadow or not. If the groundhog sees its shadow, then it will be scared, run back into its hole and we have to endure 6 more weeks of winter. If the groundhog does not see its shadow, then it will stay outside and we can expect an early spring.

The reasoning is also simple: If the weather on Groundhog Day is bright and sunny, then it is a nice day, we feel good, and don’t care too much that spring officially begins in about 6 weeks–the spring equinox. If the weather on Groundhog Day is grey and gloomy, then we laboriously plod through the day and hope for an early end to the doldrums of continued winter.

There are several weather-related origins to Groundhog Day that have included bears and badgers predicting the weather. Celtic tradition refers to the day as Imbolc, and uses a serpent as its weather prognosticator. Groundhog Day is also known in Christian tradition as Candlemas, and celebrates the purification of Mary and the presentation of the baby Jesus in the temple 40 days after his Christmas birth.

Assembly: The kit retails for $19.95 and includes all the pieces you’ll need to create your rocket car. All you’ll need to contribute is some glue to place the fin on the top of the car and the baking soda and vinegar required for the fuel source.

The car is recommended for children ages 9 and up, but children will strongly benefit from having an adult help them with the creation process. Good news is that the instructions are self explanatory and easy to follow. Note: As you move to placing the wheels on the car, you will want to test the car on the ground to see if your wheels are aligned correctly and moving freely (a step I did not fine tune enough for my first car, resulting in it pulling to the left).

Performance: After your car is built, you will want to make sure to read and accurately follow the directions for the baking soda and vinegar mixture. Mike and I wanted our car to go farther and faster, so we added double the amount of vinegar which resulted in too much pressure building up in the fuel module too quickly and shooting it out the back of the car instead of propelling it forward.

When we correctly followed the instructions for our fuel ingredients and adjusted the dial on the back of the car, we had fun watching the chemical reaction bubble and fizz until enough pressure built up in the chamber and shot our car down the sidewalk and street. As we tested the car on the sidewalk outside the Clark Planetarium, we had many interested passers-by that got a kick out of the reaction. We did get some footage of a launch on the street which you can see here:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Pointers: Overall, this was a fun activity to get us outside with a chemistry/physics demonstration to boot. Things you’ll want to pay attention to when creating your own rocket car are, again, testing the wheels to make sure the car rides straight. Launching the car on a smooth surface also helps it go further. And lastly, don’t stand directly behind the car while you are waiting for it to launch. When it blasts off, it shoots a stream of the baking soda and vinegar mixture out the back of the car. We had one of our store staff get splattered with the stuff and while we all got a kick out of it, the mixture is pretty smelly. We got footage of that too as well as some other misfires we had while we were playing around…

Click here to view the embedded video.

We notice that days are getting longer and warmer, nights are shorter and less chilly.

In the southern hemisphere, seasons are reversed. March 20th marks the first day of autumn. The Sun is still crossing from the southern half of the sky to the northern half, but this results in longer nights, colder days and the coming of winter.