Parachutes

This lesson plan certainly will not be a drag! Little engineers design parachutes that make use of air resistance and, as a result, slow the descent of the payload as much as possible. It is an opportunity to teach about many motion...

Using a scare model of the a test vehicle developed by the Systems Architecture and Integration Office at NASA, groups determine the dimensions for a scale model of the parachute compartment. The groups also determine the volume of the...

Have your physical scientists try some engineering origami by examining how the folding of materials can have practical and beneficial applications. Teams use their convoluted cortexes to collaborate on constructing a solar panel that is...

Young scholars explore different size circles to discover the relationship between diameter and circumference. In this circles and Pi lesson, students construct simple parachutes using circle patterns of varying sizes. Young scholars...

Students are presented with the problem of constructing a parachute that has the maximum hang time. They construct their own parachute using available materials. Pupils drop their parachutes from a height of two meters and record the...

Middle schoolers engage in a discussion about what a parachute is and how it works. They create a parachute using different materials that they think will work best. The students test their designs, which will be followed by a class...

Students study the basics of parachuting.  In this flight and aerodynamics lesson students make a simple parachute and investigate different variables that can cause potential problems.

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...

Students study the invention of the parachute and how Leonardo da Vinci came up with the design.  In this aerodynamics lesson students test the properties that make parachutes more efficient.

Middle schoolers make a parachute. In this air resistance lesson plan, students create a parachute using materials they think will work the best. Middle schoolers try out their parachutes, noting which one worked the best. Students...