Students design a skydiver and parachute constraption to demonstrate how drag caused by air resistance slows the descent of skydivers as they travel back to Earth. They experience how gravity pulls the skydiver toward the earth and how...

Get things moving with this elementary science unit on simple machines. Through a series of nine lessons including teacher demonstrations, hands-on activities, and science experiments, young scientists learn about forces, motion,...

Drop a perfect project into your lesson plans. Groups use different building materials to create models of parachutes for food drops. After testing out their prototypes, they make improvements to their designs.

Students build parachutes for chicken eggs. In this physics lesson, students describe the forces acting on a falling object. They predict which of the three parachute models they made has the best chance of keeping the egg intact after a...

Sixth graders make 2 different kinds of parachutes and record and graph the time for each one for the different drag forces. In this parachute lesson plan, 6th graders compare the results to the rest of the class of each parachute and...

Fourth graders construct a parachute using specified materials in a set amount of time. They observe a toy parachute attached to a toy man and discuss what makes him move slower or faster. Then in small groups they design, construct,...

Second graders experiment to understand how force is effected by friction.  In this forces in action lesson, 2nd graders view a website to simulate what happens when the height of a ramp is changed. Students participate in an...

Pupils examine how parachutes work, and research and discuss the first man to envision and sketch the first parachute. They analyze air resistance, drag force, drop time, and terminal velocity.

Students control the parachutes using arm movements. They follow directions while participating in games. Students explore the effects of wind on several objects. They study the effects of shape, size and weight on a parachute.

Students examine force and conduct activities that model parachutes and helicopters.  In this airplanes lesson plan students identify the forces that make airplanes fly higher and land. 

Watch out below! Future engineers come up with methods to ensure that a ball in a cup stays in the cup even after dropped from a given height. It might be prudent to include some kind of shock absorber in the cup. Parachutes are a good...

Pupils investigate how to make a good parachute. In this physics instructional activity, students observe the motion of parachutes as it falls and measure the time. They collect data and calculate the average descent time for each canopy...

Students study drag and how it affects a parachute in the sky.  In this parachutes lesson students build models and compare their drag. 

Middle schoolers investigate how weight affects a parachute's rate of fall.  In this investigative lesson students test parachutes, average results and conclude what makes a faster descent.

Students control the parachutes using arm movements. They follow directions while participating in games. They explore the effects of wind on several objects and study the effects of shape, size and weight on a parachute.

You have to crack a few eggs to make a good engineer! Working in small groups, young scholars design, build, and test devices that protect an egg from breaking when dropped from a ladder.

Students observe a demonstration presented by the teacher covering different types of energy. They participate in an experiment where they study numerous physics vocabulary words and visit websites that demonstrate examples of these...

Students complete a lab observation form predicting how air makes a helicopter and pinwheel work. Constructing their own helicopter, they begin to drop it from various heights. They discuss the force on air and how it affects both objects.

Young scholars study deceleration devices like parachutes and parafoils.

Students are introduced to the four forces of flight--drag, lift, thrust, and weight--through a variety of fun-filled flight experiments. They "fly" for short periods and evaluate factors that might either increase or decrease their...

Students explain how drag, weight, lift and thrust work together to make something fly. For this physics lesson, students measure their jump height and record data on the table. They reason out why they can't remain airborne for long.

Students are told that any object moving through a fluid (air, water, molasses, etc) experience a drag force which oppose the motion. They are given the summarized version of drag which is proportional to the square of the velocity....

Third graders make parachutes to learn about gravity and the science process. In this gravity instructional activity, 3rd graders create parachutes and observe their flight in air. Students discuss wind and gravity for the activity.

Help your class understand the design challenges when trying to land a remote spacecraft on a planet. Class members examine the provided information to understand how each component of a spacecraft is designed in order to safely land a...