Interactive
Smithsonian Institution

National Air and Space Museum: Wright Brothers: Interactive Experiments

For Students 9th - 10th
Three interactives in an online exhibition about the Wright Brothers. The first is an engineering activity on the forces of flight, and is accompanied by a lesson plan for Grades 6-8. The second is a gallery of original artifacts related...
Lesson Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Future Flights!

For Teachers 5th - 7th
This lesson is an exciting conclusion to the airplanes unit that encourages young scholars to think creatively. After a review of the concepts learned, students will design their own flying machine based on their knowledge of the forces...
Unit Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Up, Up and Away! Airplanes

For Teachers 4th - 6th
The airplanes unit begins with a lesson on how airplanes create lift, which involves a discussion of air pressure and how wings use Bernoulli's Principle to change air pressure. Following the lessons on lift, students explore the other...
Handout
Other

Pacifier Online: Bird Flight Basics

For Students 9th - 10th
This site provides a simplified explanation of the physics of flight. Site provides information about lift, drag, weight, thrust, Bernoulli's Principle, and much more.
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Flying With Style

For Teachers 10th - 12th
As students begin to understand the physics behind thrust, drag, and gravity and how these relate these to Newton's three laws of motion, groups assemble and launch the rockets that they designed in the associated lesson.
Lesson Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Physics of the Flying T Shirt

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students are introduced to the physics concepts of air resistance and launch angle as they apply to catapults. This includes the basic concepts of position, velocity and acceleration and their relationships to one another. They use...
Handout
NASA

Nasa: How Things Fly

For Students 9th - 10th
Easy to read guide from NASA on the basics of flight. Great graphics and some simulations are included.
Lesson Plan
PBS

Pbs Teachers: Flying High: Taking to the Air

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Explore the science of surface tension, the evolution of flight in insects and insects' anatomical adaptations. Construct insect models that illustrate the action of these adaptations and calculate the force per unit area of water surface.
Interactive
South Carolina Educational Television

Know It All: Lift | Nasa Online

For Students 9th - 10th
An upward force called lift acts on the airplane and opposes the downward forces of gravity. The lift force allows the airplane to get off the ground and stay in the air. Watch the simulation to see how this works.
Activity
University of Minnesota

The Physics of Flight: Bernoulli's Principle

For Students 9th - 10th
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.
Website
Other

Aviation Internet Group: Aviation Theory

For Students 9th - 10th
Collection of articles ranging from basic to advanced on aerodynamics theory.
PPT
PBS

Bombers of World War Ii: Last Flight of Bomber 31

For Students 9th - 10th
Website that chronicles the story of the search for remains of Bomber 31 that went down in Kamchatka during World War II. There is also a slide show and descriptions of several World War II bombers.
Lesson Plan
NASA

Nasa E Clips: Nasa's Launchpad: The Great Boomerang Challenge [Pdf]

For Teachers 9th - 10th
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...
Website
South Carolina Educational Television

South Carolina Etv Commission: Celebrate Freedom: Tuskegee Airmen

For Students 9th - 10th
A multimedia experience about the Tuskegee Airmen, an all African American flying squadron established in Tuskegee, Alabama in 1941. This exhibit celebrates the 60th Anniversary of the struggles and accomplishments of this group of...
Website
NASA

Nasa: Aerodynamics Index

For Students 9th - 10th
Are you studying or teaching Aerodynamics? This page acts as an index to all the terminology related to this topic. Clicking on any title will open a page with a colored slide and a scientific explanation of the contents. Animated,...
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Measuring G

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Using the LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT kit, students construct experiments to measure the time it takes a free falling body to travel a specified distance. Students use the touch sensor, rotational sensor, and the NXT brick to measure the time of...
Website
PBS

Pbs: Nova: Top Gun Over Moscow

For Students 9th - 10th
An online exhibit investigating the sensations experienced by a cockpit pilot in a Russian aircraft. Focuses on G-forces and apparent weightlessness.
Graphic
Curated OER

Science Kids: Science Images: Forces of Lift

For Students 9th - 10th
This diagram shows the forces of lift that affect the wing of an aircraft. Lift, thrust, weight and drag all affect the flight of the aircraft as well as the angle of attack.
Lesson Plan
Smithsonian Institution

Smithsonian Education: Art to Zoo Kiting Up the Sky

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
This article provides a brief outline on the history of kites as well as information on the forces of kite flight. There are a couple lesson plans included. One lesson directs students in writing kite poems. The other includes...
Website
NASA

Nasa: Beginner's Guide to Aerodynamics

For Students 9th - 10th
Includes exhaustive information and a wealth of activities pertaining to aerodynamics and the physics of flight.
Handout
The Cold War Museum

U 2 Incident

For Students 9th - 10th
A brief, but clearly-stated, description of the downing of Francis Gary Powers' U-2 spy plane over the USSR during the Cold War. Powers survived the incident, and the USA claimed the spy plane was flying for weather purposes. Site...
Website
PBS

Pbs: American Experience: Nancy Harkness Love

For Students 9th - 10th
This site provides a detailed biography of Nancy Harkness Love, including her role in lobbying for a women's flying squadron during World War II.
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Adaptations for Aeronautical Engineering

For Teachers 9th - 10th
This activity first asks the students to study the patterns of bird flight and understand that four main forces affect the flight abilities of a bird. They will study the shape, feather structure, and resulting differences in the pattern...
Interactive
Canadian Museum of Nature

Canadian Museum of Nature: How Do Birds Fly?

For Students Pre-K - 1st
Have you ever wondered about how birds are able to fly? View three 3D animations to see a bird take off, flap in flight and glide. This is an excellent resource to develop an understanding of the physical forces that make this one of the...

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