Curated OER
Raptor Force
Students observe a video about pilots, their desired traits, and explore the similarities between a bird and an airplane. Using paper, wood or foam, they design create an aircraft to be flown in a competition to see which plane will fly...
Curated OER
Upside-Down Wings
Young scholars use FoilSim to demonstrate that the graphic analysis of the airflow around one object can be used to hypothesize airflow graphs for objects as they are elongated from a sphere to an airfoil shape.
Curated OER
Sailing Through Bernoulli
Learners 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.
Curated OER
Four Forces of Flight
Students explore the four forces of flight. They investigate the four forces of flight: lift, drag, thrust and weight (gravity). They experiment with flight-testing various objects commonly found around the house and constructing paper...
Curated OER
Plane Weather
Students examine the important issue of plane safety. In groups, they are introduced to how NASA determines if it is safe to fly on a particular day given certain conditions. They use the internet to research the types of tools and...
Cornell University
Physics of Flight
Up, up, and away! Take your classes on a physics adventure. Learners explore the concepts important for flight. They experiment with the Bernoulli Principle while learning the forces that act on airplanes in flight.
Curated OER
How Do Airplanes Get Off the Ground
Students construct various types of paper airplanes, exploring action and reaction forces by conducting a paper airplane rodeo. Students then discuss how Newton's Third Law of Motion affected their planes.
Curated OER
How Things Fly
Learners conduct a series of hands-on experiments that help them explain the role of lift in fixed-wing flight. They observe the flow of air and water around several surfaces and then consider the dynamics of airflow around an aircraft...
Curated OER
Glow With the Flow
Students investigate the force of drag and how NASA engineers use models and glowing paints to examine how air flows over vehicles in a wind tunnel. They discover how the blended wing body will affect air travelers of the future.
Curated OER
How do engineless planes stay aloft?
Fifth graders explore how a plane can stay aloft. In this engineless airplane flying activity, 5th graders experiment to find how the design of a plane and Bernoulli's principle keep planes in the air. Student's create a plane and answer...
Curated OER
Art in Engineering - Moving Art
Young scholars study how forces are applied in the creation of art. They design mobiles and pop-up books while identifying which forces of nature act upon them. They look at air currents, gravity, and hand movement.
Curated OER
An Uplifting Experience
Fifth graders research and complete a graphic organizer about the principles of flight. For this aviation lesson, 5th graders experiment to understand the work of Daniel Bernouli and his discoveries about air pressure. Students create...
Curated OER
Aviation, Aeronautics and Aerodynamics
Students investigate the physics of flight through various experiments. For this physics lesson, students construct different flying objects. They explain the dynamics that make these object fly.
Curated OER
Design of Airfoils and Problem- Solving Using FoilSim
Ninth graders, after reading the explanation given below, complete the problem-solving activities to demonstrate an understanding of the concepts presented.
Curated OER
How Things Fly
Young scholars 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. Young scholars perform three experiments...
Curated OER
Flying with Fractions
Middle schoolers test their knowledge of the Wright Brothers and their aircraft, and compute ratio of two numbers to determine the ratio between wing span and length of aircraft.
Teach Engineering
Fun with Bernoulli
Reduce the pressure in the classroom. The second instructional activity in an Airplanes unit of 22 introduces the class to Bernoulli's Principle. Pupils demonstrate the principle by blowing between different objects causing a reduction...
Curated OER
John J. Montgomery: Controlling flight
Students research the history of aviation while looking at how gliders and airplanes fly. This lesson is the perfect way to intertwine Science and History. It has variations for all grade levels K-12.
NASA
The Wright Quest
A very impressive lesson plan on the Wright brothers and their place in aviation history. Learners discover many fascinating facts about the Wright brothers and their trials and errors regarding flight. Best of all, they get to build a...
Curated OER
Inventors and Inventions 2:Air and Space
Students fly their own paper airplanes. In this flight lesson plan, students create paper airplanes and see whose plane will fly the farthest. They discuss what factors affect the flight and attempt to create a plane that will go...
Curated OER
Model Rockets
Students build a model rocket. In this model rocket lesson, students explore a rocket launch cycle. Students investigate the laws of physics for each part of the launch. Students build model rockets and launch at school.
Curated OER
Lift Relationships
Young scholars use FoilSim (downloadable) to determine how lift is affected by varying parameters on the Airfoil simulation.
Curated OER
Lift Equation Problem Set
Students, after reading an explanation from a NASA Web-based textbook, demonstrate an understanding of the text by using it, along with FoilSim, to complete an activity to graph and interpret the lift equation.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: May the Force Be With You: Lift
Students revisit Bernoulli's Principle (Lesson 1 of the Airplanes unit) and learn how engineers use this principle to design airplane wings. Airplane wings create lift by changing the pressure of the air around it. This is the first of...