+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Features and Limits of Aircraft Design

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students identify the desired features of an aircraft and the limits that they, the Wright Brothers, or NASA scientists might face in designing one, and methods to solve these. They review parts of an airplane and what makes it fly. They...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Testing and Refining Aircraft Design

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students design and make a flying device. They work in small groups to brainstorm ideas for the design of their device. They choose an idea or combination of ideas to use for their design and create a sketch of their design. The students...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Milestones of Flight

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Discover seven of the most historic aircraft and spacecraft in the collections of the National Air and Space Museum. By research into the major milestones of aviation history your students will recognize features that enable flight,...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Principles of Flight: Where are We?

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students explore the concept of topographical maps.  In this topographical map lesson, students discuss how airplanes know where to fly.  Students use topographical maps to simulate a field trip on the computer. 
+
Activity
PBS

Reading Adventure Pack: Flight

For Parents 3rd Standards
A Reading Adventure pack focuses on the invention of flight. After reading a fiction and nonfiction book, scholars take their newfound knowledge to design a one-passenger flying device, experiment with different types of paper airplanes...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lesson 6: Crowded Skies

For Teachers 5th - 12th
This is a treasure-trove of multimedia resources to help your scholars analyze transportation methods. They discuss different forms of movement, utilizing several infographics to spur conversation deeper and get visual learners engaged....
+
Worksheet
Curated OER

Help Maggie Rebuild Her Airplane!

For Students 4th - 8th
In this airplane activity, students build airplanes out of paper and test their accuracy while flying them. Students build 6 planes and fill out test logs to go with them.
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Raptor Force

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students observe a video about pilots, their desired traits, and explore the similarities between a bird and an airplane. Using paper, wood or foam, they design create an aircraft to be flown in a competition to see which plane will fly...
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

PHYSICS OF FLIGHT

For Teachers 9th
Ninth graders study the basic principles of flight, including the Bernoulli Principle and Newton's Laws. They construct and study model aircraft
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Selection and Variation in the Egyptian Origami Bird

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students participate in a contrived natural selection simulation in which they build and modify simple paper airplanes. They study divergent and convergent evolution and how it is isolated in sub-populations.
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What Makes Thing Fly?

For Teachers 2nd
Second graders study lift, drag and thrust from a real flight instructor.  In this physical science lesson students build and fly paper airplanes and experiment with variations and design. 
+
Activity
1
1
Teach Engineering

Adapatations for Bird Flight - Inspiration for Aeronautical Engineering

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
It's a bird, it's a ... device made to mimic birds. The eighth installment of a nine-part module has pupils read various articles to learn about bird flight. They consider the implications for aeronautical engineering.
+
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Leaving on A Jet Plane

For Teachers 2nd - 4th
Students create an airplane by listening to directions. They also to measure the pieces for the airplane and compare and contrast their test flights.