New ReviewLift—it is about the wing's attack. Using a virtual wind tunnel, pupils investigate wing shape and angle of attack. Learners use worksheets to record their observations and to convert verbal relationships into mathematical equations in...

New ReviewWrap up the unit in one final design. Pairs use their knowledge of aviation to design new flying machines and record how their designs take into consideration the forces that act upon airplanes. The pupils determine whether their designs...

New ReviewChange one variable and try again. Teams build basic balsa gliders and collect data on their flight distances and times. Through collaboration, the team decides on two modifications to make to the basic design and collect data for the...

Balloons will go where you want them to. Young pilots first add paper clips to a balloon to make it neutrally buoyant. They then use cardboard to steer the balloon in different directions, taking air pressure into account.

You are what you wear! Learn the complex design strategies that result in the competition clothing seen in the Olympics. Scientists consider the requirement of each sport, which typically results in resisting air drag. 

Up, up, and away! Young scholars learn how to apply physics to a successful ski jump. An interesting video lesson compares and contrasts drag and lift in the context of a ski jump.

How does a sailboat go both with and against the wind? The Vertasium video surveys people on this question. After asking many people to explain the way a sailboat works, finally a sailor answers. This allows for discussion of lift and...

Boomerangs make nice round trip flights thanks to physics. The Veritasium video explains the science of how a boomerang works. It focuses on lift, relative velocity, and gyroscopic precision. 

More than 100,000 commercial flights take off every day, but how do the planes fly? Veritasium presents a video explaining the way wings work. It opens with the common misconception, then introduces two seemingly conflicting...

Being backwards isn't always bad. Scholars view a short video in the Real Engineering series to see why airplane wings are not straight and are angled backwards. The video provides a brief timeline of how airplane wings have evolved over...

How does the 1973 oil crisis relate to winglets on airplane wings? Interested pupils view a video that explains why airplane wings have winglets. It turns out that the high cost of oil made more efficient wings a necessity.

Up, up, and away! Physics scholars learn the secrets to defying gravity through engineering. The video describes the forces acting on various parts of the plane and the designs that minimize these forces or increase opposing forces. The...

Engineer an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) to study concepts of physics. Using household materials, collaborative groups design and build an AUV and then test Newton's Laws of Motion as they apply them in underwater environments...

What's that silly thing spinning in the wind? It's a whirligig! Explore wonderful windy whirligigs with a STEM-based unit that teaches the science and concepts behind these gigs. They discover how gravity and air resistance contribute to...

How does an airplane control its take off and descent? Scholars explore the forces acting on an airplane and control the angle of attack, wing profile, thrust, and airplane size. They learn about lift, drag, thrust, gravity, and the...

How can people control a hot air balloon? The simple simulation allows scholars to adjust the payload mass, burner, and vent position on a hot air balloon and observe the changes in velocity and altitude over time. Challenge questions...

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.

Leonardo da Vinci was not only one of the most influential artists of the 20th century, he also made noteworthy contributions to the world of science. A video discusses some of his research, inventions, and his place in history. It...

Astronauts need a way to lift heavy objects. Pupils design and build a crane out of cardboard and determine ways to improve their cranes based upon the outcomes of testing. 

An instructive slideshow presentation won't take the wind out of your sails! Alesson plan and the included presentation show how a sail works to push the sailboat downwind. It goes on to present how the sail and the keel work together in...

This Discovery Education activity provides the information needed to understand the basics of flight. Before taking off, young pilots learn the eight stages of the engineering design process. Small groups then design and build an...

Demonstrate lift to the class that is studying aerodynamics. In the stream of air produced by a blow dryer, little physicists place a wad of tissue paper and a spherical figure to compare. Or, if you have a vacuum cleaner and beach ball,...

Using a cut-out template of a whirligig, emerging engineers experiment with flight behavior. After you teach them the concepts of force, air resistance, and lift, they discuss what variables on the whirligigs might be changed in order to...

Bring Bernoulli's principle before the eyes of your earth scientists! By setting two fans up facing each other, you can get a paper airplane to hover between them. Lift and drag concepts can be taught when you show this clip or perform...