Aspiring aeronautical engineers demonstrate different forces as they construct and test paper airplanes. This lesson plan links you to a website that models the most effective paper airplane design, an animation describing the forces...

Participate in the 100th anniversary of the first flight. In groups, learners use the internet to research the roles the Wright Brothers and Amelia Earhart played in promoting the use of flight. They use the information to write and...

Three activities allow young flight engineers to understand the 4 principles of flight (weight, lift, thrust, and drag), to construct a glider, and to create a propeller. Multicultural history and literature are integrated by reading...

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,...

Scholars are introduced to the significant events that led to the development of today's modern forms of air travel. They create a timeline to identify the vital events that are related to man's flight. In addition, they research various...

Students investigate the physics of flight by experimenting in class.  In this history of flight lesson, students define terms such as gravity, lift, and drag in order to better understand how a plane is able to stay in the air....

Students discuss how the invention of flight changed the way people live today. In groups, they compare and contrast the differences between weight, lift, thrust and drag. Using these principles, they create a glider and propeller with...

Students gain a better understanding of the technology used by ancient Chamorros.  In this physics activity students theorize ways to forcefully throw a fist-sized object and discuss the technology behind a slingstone.

Students discover how air pressure effects flight.  In this physics lesson plan, students create two types of airplane wings so they can observe the way air pressure creates lift.  Students utilize a printout to create the...

Learners construct models of early gas balloons and gliders. In this balloon and glider lesson, students create models of early gas balloons and gliders, discover how the forces of lift and drag effect aircraft in flight, and put on...

Young scholars explore mythology by researching the Internet. In this history of flight lesson, students view websites discussing the first recorded flight and the mythological creatures that people suspected could fly. Young scholars...

Learners apply the knowledge of Bernoulli's Principle and construct simple aerodynamic designs. In this flight physics activity, students explore the history of man's interest in flying and the forces influencing an object in flight by...

Students explore the principles of flight. In this flight lesson, students construct a model plane and investigate the forces acting on the flier. They will measure the thrust and calculate the stored energy.

Students investigate the flight of paper boomerangs. In this flight activity, students examine the flight variables of paper boomerangs, which they make, by investigating the concepts of lift and drag. They examine what happens when an...

Students study black history, examine portraits and portrait making and create their own portraits, and  investigate their natural environment. This humanities lesson provides a text that can be used to teach lessons in black...

Young scholars consider the relationship between form and flight and investigate the history of man made flight and how wing shape and flexibility affects the maneuverability of an aircraft.

Seventh graders review graphing procedures and practice locating points using x,y coordinates. Students calculate the areas of the top and bottom surfaces of the airfoil. They construct a test model of the airfoil.

Fourth graders identify symbols, people and events associated with North Carolina history. Using this information, they focus on the Wright brothers and their first flight. They answer questions related to the event and discuss how...

Students research flight and to try and put the events of Kitty Hawk into proper perspective. They look at kites, the lateen sail, flight toys (old and new), hot air balloons, propulsion units, hang gliders, and the men who made them.

Students study man's first form of flight which truly imitated the free-flight of birds--the glider. They examine such important contributions to the invention of the glider, such as Sir George Cayley, Jean Marie LeBris, Otto Lilienthal...

In this aviation lesson, students research Charles Augustus Lindbergh and other early aviators and their flying machines. They then write a letter to one of the aviators asking questions about the mechanics of flight and their flying...

Take your science class on a hypothetical field trip to Mars with an engaging astronomy lesson. After first learning about NASA's Mars rover missions, young scientists plan their own scientific investigations of Earth's...

Students will examine the physics of flight through using experimental inquiry. In this lesson, you'll introduce your students to the four forces of flight--drag, lift, thrust, and weight--through a variety of fun-filled flight...

Students investigate space travel. In this space travel lesson students examine space exploration history, engineers and scientists involved in space exploration, and Newton's third law of motion. Students make rockets.