Curated OER
How Things Fly
Students explain basic principles of aeronautics such as gravity and lift. In this How Things Fly lesson, students visit the interactive, hands-on How Things Fly gallery at the Smithsonian. Students perform three experiments that...
Curated OER
The Wright Stuff
In this lesson, young scholars design an exhibition on the history of aviation for a science museum. For homework, they write short stories envisioning the future of flight in the year 2014.
Curated OER
Bag Balloons
Young scholars demonstrate that heat can change air. They determine that hot air rises. Students construct a working model of a hot air balloon. They understand that there are two ways that a balloon can rise: it can (1) be filled...
Curated OER
Floating and Falling Flows
Students discover fluid dynamics related to buoyancy through experimentation and optional photography. Using one set of fluids, they make light fluids rise through denser fluids. Using another set, they make dense fluids sink through a...
Yale University
Airplane Mathematics
The history of aerodynamics is rich with experimentation and international collaboration. Author Joyce Bryant relays this dynamic past and provides math word problems using the formula of lift, the force that makes airplanes fly. She...
Curated OER
Understanding: Flight
Students review the principles of flight before performing a series of simple experiments. Working in small groups, they complete hands-on activities that demonstrate the principles that make it possible for an airplane to lift into air...
Curated OER
Rain On
Fourth graders study the water cycle and clouds. In this water cycle and cloud lesson, 4th graders determine the definition of condensation and watch a demonstration in which the teacher makes a cloud in a bottle. They discuss the water...
Curated OER
Windbreakers; Earth Science, Topography, Weather
Young scholars consider how topography affects weather and human activity. Students simulate a mountain range and observe surrounding wind patterns.
Curated OER
What's the Connection Between Convection and Inversion?
Ninth graders observe a simulation demonstrating the difference between convection and inversion. They explain where and when convection and inversion layers occur and how each impacts air quality, and by connection, human health.