Curated OER
Aerospace Engineering
Students are introduced to aviation history and aerospace engineering achievements. They assemble a class aviation history timeline from individual student research on people and events.
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Legends of Airpower: Aviation-Then, Now and Here
Students examine the advancements made in aviation during and since WWII. They read an interview with Charles McGee, research a plane, build a model of a plane, and develop a Powerpoint presentation about aircraft.
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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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Aerospace/Aeronautical Engineering: Build a Paper Airplane
Students brainstorm what it is like to fly on an airplane and discuss the parts of a plane. Students construct a paper plane of their own, decorate it, have a competition, and discuss the importance of each part of a plane and the role...
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Features and Limits of Aircraft Design
Students identify the desired features of an aircraft and the limits that they, the Wright Brothers, or NASA scientists might face in designing one, and methods to solve these. They review parts of an airplane and what makes it fly. They...
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Problems and Solutions in Aircraft Design
Students watch demonstrations of paper folded designs that do and do not fly and discuss their observations. They identify problems that they, the Wright Brothers, or NASA scientists face when designing an aircraft, and identify...
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Testing and Refining Aircraft Design
Learners design and make a flying device. They work in small groups to brainstorm ideas for the design of their device. They choose an idea or combination of ideas to use for their design and create a sketch of their design. The students...
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Criteria and Constraints in Aircraft Design
Students investigate criteria and constraints for designing any aircraft. They define these terms and categorize a series of examples of both. Using the constraints and criteria set before them, they design and construct airplanes in...
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Lift and Launch Angle
Students engage in a hands-on experiment to determine how launch angles affect airflow around the wing of an aircraft. They view a series of photographs and read information describing the Wright Brothers' experiences. They complete a...
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Aircraft vs. Spacecraft
High schoolers investigate differences between aircraft and spacecraft, and the differences in propulsion systems. They build pinwheel airplanes and balloon rockets. An interactive activity quizzes students on thrust.
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Women in Space
Students read biographies of women who have made contributions to field of aerospace and aeronautics, choose one woman to research, and present their findings to classmates in form of essay, play, poster, or presentation.
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Untitled Document Aerospace Team Online:
Students explain the historical significance of use of the scientific method in developing the first airplane and appreciate the process involved in developing a new technology.
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A Clasroom Study of the Life of an Airplane
Students participate in an experiment to discover the properties of lift. They work together to complete calculations and collect data. They share their results with the class.
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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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Introduction to Flight: A Math, Science and Technology Integrated Project
Seventh graders review graphing procedures and practice locating points using x,y coordinates. Students calculate the areas of the top and bottom surfaces of the airfoil. They construct a test model of the airfoil.
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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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TECH:Flight Simulator (Trans)
Microsoft's Flight simulator is the focal point of this lesson plan. By participating in this activity, teenagers role-play what is necessary for piloting an airplane. They explore the concepts of flight. You will need to familiarize...
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Glide Away
Students design and construct a gliding aircraft. They use the Internet as a research tool to gain background information about specific flight principles.
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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 students build and fly paper airplanes and experiment with variations and design.
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A New Century Of Flight
Students analyze an article about fight traffic and answer questions. In this investigative instructional activity students study flight and fill out a worksheet pertaining to the information that they just learned.
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Balloon Rockets
High schoolers build pinwheel airplanes and balloon rockets to determine which ones fly faster and which fly farther.
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Life Without Flight
Students keep a journal for an intire week recording their observations of the ways aircraft affect society, The students discuss their findings and categorize them into areas such as military, commercial, research, and so on.
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Aerodynamics of a Boomerang
Students examine how aerodynamic forces affect the flight of aircraft, animals and sports balls and projectiles (like a javelin or boomerang). They discover the origins of the boomerang and early usage in hunting.
Teach Engineering
Archimedes' Principle, Pascal's Law and Bernoulli's Principle
What do Pascal's law, Archimedes' Principle, and Bernoulli's Principle have to do with fluid mechanics? The included PowerPoint presentation provides the basic definitions and equations associated with the three. A set of homework...