![]() ![]() No other sheets of paper will be handed out. Students are allowed to make up to 3 airplanes but only 1 can be entered into the contest.Two awards will be given: 1) the furthest distance travelled and 2) the fanciest flight (spins, loops, spirals, etc.).Each student is to design and build their own paper aircraft, keeping in mind the four forces affecting flight.Hand out the materials to the students.Their hypothesis should be based on what they have learned about the four forces of flight.Students explore the stations and hypothesize which one(s) will travel the furthest and/or have the fanciest flight (spins, loops, spirals).Preparation: Print out various examples of paper airplane instructions and set them up throughout the classroom as stations. What can you change in an aircraft’s design to turn the plane left or right? What helps a plane achieve the farthest distance? Why did some planes fly better than others? These planes fly a slow and gentle flight.ĭetermine how manipulating the design of aircraft changes the size and direction of flight forces and link those changes to changes in the aircraft’s motion.Įxplain how the drag force is created and what factors affect it’s size and direction.Ħ-7 examples of paper airplane instructions downloaded from paper plane-making websites: see Other Resources belowģ sheets of paper (preferably recycled or reused) Planes that are built to spend a long time in the air, such as a Boeing 787, usually have a lot of lift but little thrust. These planes, like darts, do not have a lot of drag and lift: they depend on extra thrust to overcome gravity. Some airplanes, such as the Concord, are built to move extremely fast. Long flights come when these four forces–drag, gravity, thrust, and lift–are balanced. If the wing is too curved however, it will have either little effect or perhaps even the opposite effect. Curving the wings of a plane will enable air to move more quickly over the top of the wing, resulting in an upward push, or lift, on the wing. Pressure can be reduced on a wing's surface by making the air move over it more quickly. It is this difference in pressure that enables the plane to fly. Lift comes when the air below the plane wing is pushing up harder than the air above it is pushing down. After this, paper planes are really gliders, converting altitude (height) to forward motion. The initial thrust comes from the muscles of the "pilot" as the paper airplane is launched. Thrust is the forward movement of the plane. You need to keep your plane's weight to a minimum to help fight against gravity's pull to the ground. ![]() If you want your plane to fly as far as possible, you need a plane with as little drag as possible.Ī second force that planes need to overcome is gravity. Planes that push a lot of air are said to have a lot of drag or resistance to moving through the air. ![]() The next consideration is how easily a plane moves through the air, or its aerodynamics. The first consideration in making a plane fly, for short or long distances, are the four forces that act on an aircraft– drag, gravity, thrust and lift. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |