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How Things Fly
Students research the mechanics of flight and create a slideshow with one slide dedicated to each of these topics: lift, drag, thrust, and weight. They create a short quiz regarding the material that they presented and give it to their...
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Flying With The Wright Stuff
Students explore the history of flight, specifically the Wright brothers. Pupils create paper airplanes. They discuss considerations in building an aircraft such as drag, thrust, and weight. Classmates compare the Wright Brother's...
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Frisbee
Students examine the history behind the frisbee and how Bernoulli's principle and Newton's law plays a role. In this flight lesson students complete an experiment on how the rim of a frisbee effects flight.
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Forces, Controls And Aircraft Systems
Students are introduced to the physics of flight through video and PowerPoint presentations. They construct and fly model gliders and compete for height, distance, time, etc.
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Big Air Rules
Students discuss projectile motion using a basketball player taking off for a slam dunk, a fly ball launched off a hitter's bat, and a snowboarder flying off a pipe as examples. The lesson is expanded by introducing the mathematical...
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Sled Kite
Pupils make and fly a sled kite out of plastic garbage bags, dowel rods, and more. In this kite lesson plan, students plan the kite to have symmetry and make adjustments as they test it.
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Banana Man Glider
Students incorporate technology into the classroom as they investigate force and motion. In this science lesson, students construct a glider to be able to safely take a banana to the ground without dropping it. They investigate flight,...
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The Pressure's Off II - Flight
Students investigate what allows air plane to fly, why birds can fly and why people can't. They construct a giant hot air balloon that can be launched using only a hair dryer.
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Balsa Wood Airplane Flight and Speed Correlation
Ninth graders calculate the average speed of their balsa wood airplane. In this physics activity, 9th graders build their own airplane and make necessary modifications to to make it fly straight. They interpret distance and time graph...
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The Aspect Ratio of Wings
Junior engineers examine aspect ration in airplane wings. Using the length and width of two differetn wings, they calculate the aspect ratios and compare drag rankings. An engineering or space science class would benefit from this...
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What Makes Thing Fly?
Second graders study lift, drag and thrust from a real flight instructor. In this physical science lesson plan students build and fly paper airplanes and experiment with variations and design.
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What Makes Airplanes Fly . . . Why Me
Pupils investigate the historical development of human attempts to fly and the practice of keeping recorded data for historical reasons.
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Forces in Fluids
In this forces in fluids worksheet, students answer questions as they relate to forces in fluids. Students complete a chart about atmospheric pressure.
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Rocketry in Motion
Students investigate why a balloon flies in one direction as air escapes in the opposite direction, which helps them understand the nature of rockets and fireworks. Individually and in teams, students conduct research to create a...
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Airplanes and Airports: How To Take Off Without Ever Leaving the Ground
Students plan an airport visit. In this Airplanes and Airports activity, students observe the people, activity, and machinery at airports. Then students compare the characteristics of their observations at the airport. Students make...
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Flying with Fractions
Students 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.
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The Flights Of The Phoenix
Students investigate the use of the Phoenix in Japanese and Chinese art while making connections to the use of the Phoenix in the book Fahrenheit 451. This activity can be adapted for grades 8 through 11 but was originally for 8th grade...
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Kites: Patang - The Indian Fighter Kite
Students investigate the history of fighter kites and build their own. In this aeronautics lesson, students discover how other countries utilize fighter kites and where they originated. Students create their own fighter kites...
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Aerodynamics
Pupils discover the basic principles of aerodynamics, including the roles and identity of natural forces involved. They examine how the force of gravity is overcome by the curved shape of an airplane wing and air pressure.
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Building And Launching a Model Rocket
Students are introduced to the basic parts of rockets and the physical forces at work in the flight of rockets. They build and launch a model rocket and discuss the challenges of launching a real rocket.
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Up, Up, and Away
Students investigate the laws of physics that govern the flight of helicopters and airplanes. They build and launch a model rotor, simulating rotors used on helicopters to provide lift.
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Airplane Wings
Students examine the aerodynamics of a wing and how it generates lift. In this flight lesson students complete several experiments including how to build a paper plane and how airfoils affect performance.
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Exploring the MapleCopter
Study explore the motion of maple seeds and design experiments to explain their spinning flight patterns. They make observations, explain ideas of motion, use models, analyze previous reports and experiments, identify relevant factors...
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Determining Importance
Students observe pieces of art and look for the principle story the artwork portrays. They compare the techniques artists and authors use to focus on and support these essential stories. They create a piece of art that portrays a given...