Discovery Education
Discovery Education: Inventors and Inventions 2: Air and Space
After discussing important flying inventions, students explore technological design by making paper airplanes.
Smithsonian Institution
National Air and Space Museum: Wright Brothers: Interactive Experiments
Three interactives in an online exhibition about the Wright Brothers. The first is an engineering activity on the forces of flight, and is accompanied by a lesson plan for Grades 6-8. The second is a gallery of original artifacts related...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Up, Up and Away! Airplanes
The airplanes unit begins with a lesson on how airplanes create lift, which involves a discussion of air pressure and how wings use Bernoulli's Principle to change air pressure. Following the lessons on lift, students explore the other...
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Design and Launch Bottle Rockets
If you want to discover what makes rockets fly, this is an activity for you. You can even add different features, like fins, a nose cone, and a parachute to find out how these alter the flight!
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Up, Up, and Away in Your Own Hot Air Balloon!
In this science fair project, students will make hot-air balloons using a toaster and dry-cleaning bags, and see how the size of the balloon affects its flight. The Science Buddies project ideas are set up consistently beginning with an...
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Riding on Air Build a Real Hovercraft
You will get to build a working hovercraft that will glide over surfaces on a cushion of air in this week long science project. With the use of some power tools, you will create your hovercraft, and ultimately understand how air...
Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Learning Lab: How Things Fly: Activities for Teaching Flight
Through this series of three lessons, students will gain an understanding of the basics of flight. They will learn about the four forces of flight and practice their observation skills through a number of fun experiments. In addition,...
NASA
Nasa: Beginner's Guide to Aerodynamics
Includes exhaustive information and a wealth of activities pertaining to aerodynamics and the physics of flight.
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Parachutes: Does Size Matter?
Experiment with different sizes of parachutes to find out if size matters when slowing the descent of the parachute. The Science Buddies project ideas are set up consistently beginning with an abstract, objective, and introduction,...
PBS
Pbs: Wgbh: Nova: The Colditz Glider: Airfoil Aerodynamics
Examine what science lies behind keeping flying machines in the air. The wings angles, shape and placement, speed and what else must be considered in the development of device?
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Blow and Go Parachute
Students make a skydiver and parachute contraption to demonstrate how drag caused by air resistance slows the descent of skydivers as they travel back to Earth. Gravity pulls the skydiver toward the Earth, while the air trapped by the...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Physics of the Flying T Shirt
Students are introduced to the physics concepts of air resistance and launch angle as they apply to catapults. This includes the basic concepts of position, velocity and acceleration and their relationships to one another. They use...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Form vs. Function
Students take a closer look at cars and learn about some characteristics that affect their energy efficiency, including rolling resistance and the aerodynamics of shape and size. They come to see how vehicles are one example of a product...
Science and Mathematics Initiative for Learning Enhancement (SMILE)
Smile: Airplanes (2 3)
This paper airplane lesson plan helps students learn about certain concepts like air resistance, motion, and aerodynamics.
TryEngineering
Try Engineering: Engineered Sports
Students work in teams to investigate how aerospace engineering relates to sports, especially golf ball design and the physics of bounce. They use this information to determine whether these aerospace principles can be applied to...
NASA
Nasa: Flight: What Is Drag?
Understand the concept of drag and find out how it affects the movement of airplanes.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Design a Parachute
After a discussion about what a parachute is and how it works, students will create a parachute using different materials that they think will work best. The students will test their designs, which will be followed by a class discussion...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Red Light, Green Light
Building upon their understanding of forces and Newton's laws of motion, young scholars learn about the force of friction, specifically with respect to cars. They explore the friction between tires and the road to learn how it affects...
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: A Change in the Winds: Studying Bernoulli's Principle
You can actually make objects come together by blowing air between them. This is a simple way of implementing Bernoulli's principle. Find out how wind changes air pressure to bring to objects together in this easy and fun science fair...
Exploratorium
Exploratorium: The Science of Sports Cycling
A detailed look at the aerodynamic principles associated with cycling. Good science and even better web page design. Includes an online calculator that allows the user to calculate the aerodynamic drag and propulsive power of a bicyclist...
University of Minnesota
The Physics of Flight: Bernoulli's Principle
Discusses air flow around the wing of a plane and its effect upon the lift and drag forces. Focuses on the application of Bernoulli's principle to wing design and the subsequent airfoil shapes.
Michigan Reach Out
Nasa Trc: Flying Wing
In this lesson plan students can make a flying wing and trouble-shoot until the wing glides smoothly.
A&E Television
History.com: The History of Flight: From Breakthroughs to Disasters
From hot-air balloons floating over Paris to a dirigible crashing over New Jersey, here are some of the biggest moments of aviation history. Below is a timeline of humans' obsession with flight, from da Vinci to drones. Fasten your...
NASA
Nasa: Beginner's Guide to Aeronautics
A website that catalogs information and activities for how airplanes work. The concept of aerodynamics is explained in full detail.