Curated OER
Sailing Through Bernoulli
Young scholars participate in a class discussion about Bernoulli's principle while looking at cross-sections of an airplane wing, and discussing the sail on a sailboat and the spoiler on a race car.
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Which Wing Design Creates the Greatest Lift?
Airplane wings do not all have the same design. With this Science Buddies project you can design your own wings to see which offers the greatest lift. The Science Buddies project ideas are set up consistently beginning with an abstract,...
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Engineer an Airfoil
Do you know how an airplane flys? Use this challenge to learn about flight by building a wing that can generate lift from a fan while carrying weight. Find details about the challenge, tips, and a lesson plan on this site. Also, students...
NASA
Nasa E Clips: Nasa's Launchpad: The Great Boomerang Challenge [Pdf]
Learners use the principles of technological and engineering design to research and explain how airfoil shape affects flight characteristics and how it applies to boomerang flight.. They will work in teams to design, build, test, and...
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Make the Wind Work for You!
Find out how a wind turbine can use the power of the wind to generate energy in this science fair engineering project. You will get to design various blades to find out which produces the most energy, and at what wind speeds they are...
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,...
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.
PBS
Pbs Teachers: Scientific American: Flying Free: Make a Wind Tunnel
Investigate the science of flight, the tilt or angle of attack of a wing's surface and the effect of control surfaces. Construct a model of an open jet wind tunnel using a household desk fan to produce a flow of air.