ROCKETS ignited Fordingbridge Rainbows scientific interest as the unit spent a day exploring the Winchester Science Centre.

The group, which meet once a week, were taking part in the first county science event.

During the day they got to experience the interactive exhibits and take part in rocket making classes.

Working in teams of three, the Rainbows designed and attached tail fins along with a nose cone to an old fizzy bottle before choosing an amount of water they thought best to power their craft the highest into the sky.

Using all their mite, the girls built the bottles air pressure up using a bicycle pump, before sending it swooshing into the sky at the very last second.

They also took part in six mini experiments, finding the strength in structures using just marshmallow and dry spaghetti as their building materials, creating geodesic domes using jelly sweets and cocktail sticks and building their own volcano that spewed lava when they mixed baking powder and vinegar together.

It was the first county science day run for the Rainbows and Emma Treadwell, county science and technology adviser said: " The activities were great and captured the minds of the Rainbows who loved the flying water rocket launches, it proved just how fun science can be."