Teach Engineering
Design a Flying Machine
Wrap up the unit in one final design. Pairs use their knowledge of aviation to design new flying machines and record how their designs take into consideration the forces that act upon airplanes. The pupils determine whether their designs...
Teach Engineering
Future Flights: Imagine Your Own Flying Machines!
What will flying look like in the future? The 21st lesson plan in a 22-part unit on aviation reviews the major aspects of the lesson plan. Pupils brainstorm ideas of a future flying machine.
Curated OER
Celebrating 100 Years of Flight
Participate in the 100th anniversary of the first flight. In groups, learners use the internet to research the roles the Wright Brothers and Amelia Earhart played in promoting the use of flight. They use the information to write and...
Curated OER
Wright Again: 100 Years of Flight
Aspiring aeronautical engineers demonstrate different forces as they construct and test paper airplanes. This lesson plan links you to a website that models the most effective paper airplane design, an animation describing the forces...
Curated OER
Orville and Wilbur Wong and the Fantastic Flying Machines
Upper elementary and middle schoolers examine the role of Chinese immigrants in America. They investigate literature, history and cultures of Chinese-Americans. This ambitious plan takes two weeks to complete, and it brings in elements...
Curated OER
Flight Dreams - Folding into Flight
Combine measurement, following directions, physics, and art with one fun activity. Learners read a set of instruction to create three different kinds of paper airplanes. They measure, fold, and fly the planes, and record data and answer...
Teach Engineering
Better By Design
Which modification is the best? Using the scientific method, pairs determine the effects of each control surface on the distance of a glider's flight. The activity, section 16 in a 22-part unit on aviation, allows pupils to gain a better...
DocsTeach
Patent Analysis: Wright Brothers' Flying Machine
Ideas take flight in an exciting activity exploring the Wright Brothers. Scholars view the Wright Brothers' patent for their flying machine and makes educated guesses as to the purpose of the document. Scholars discuss the purpose of...
Teach Engineering
Building-Testing-Improving Paper Airplanes: Head's Up!
Take foldables to all new heights. Pupils build and fly different types of paper airplanes in the 14th portion of a 22-part unit on aviation. Groups collect data on distance and flight time for each plane and compare the data from the...
Teach Engineering
Equal and Opposite Thrust in Aircraft: You're a Pushover!
It's the law—every action requires a reaction, no matter how small. Pupils experience two demonstrations of Newton's third law of motion as it relates to thrust in the 10th segment of a 22-part unit on flight. Using their mathematical...
Teach Engineering
You Are There... First Flight
Glide into the study of flight. An engaging lesson plan has scholars research information on the Wright brothers. They develop props and produce a recreation of the first flight at Kitty Hawk. They then report on the event as if they...
Curated OER
Milestones of Flight
Discover seven of the most historic aircraft and spacecraft in the collections of the National Air and Space Museum. By research into the major milestones of aviation history your students will recognize features that enable flight,...
Curated OER
The Physics of Flight
Three activities allow young flight engineers to understand the 4 principles of flight (weight, lift, thrust, and drag), to construct a glider, and to create a propeller. Multicultural history and literature are integrated by reading...
Teach Engineering
Take Off with Paper Airplanes
Let's go fly a kite ... oops, a paper airplane! The 13th segment in an aviation unit of 22 relates the parts of an airplane to paper airplanes. Pupils learn the functions of the control surfaces of a plane to really make their knowledge...
Curated OER
Single Event Upsets in Aircraft Avionics
In this aircraft avionics worksheet, science fans read about the first unmanned air vehicle that collects data about the Earth and is subject to damage by cosmic ray showers. Pupils analyze two graphs of data showing the neutron flux vs....
Curated OER
History of Flight Timeline Activity
Scholars are introduced to the significant events that led to the development of today's modern forms of air travel. They create a timeline to identify the vital events that are related to man's flight. In addition, they research various...
Cornell University
Physics of Flight
Up, up, and away! Take your classes on a physics adventure. Learners explore the concepts important for flight. They experiment with the Bernoulli Principle while learning the forces that act on airplanes in flight.
PBS
Reading Adventure Pack: Flight
A Reading Adventure pack focuses on the invention of flight. After reading a fiction and nonfiction book, scholars take their newfound knowledge to design a one-passenger flying device, experiment with different types of paper airplanes...
Teach Engineering
Adapatations for Bird Flight - Inspiration for Aeronautical Engineering
It's a bird, it's a ... device made to mimic birds. The eighth installment of a nine-part module has pupils read various articles to learn about bird flight. They consider the implications for aeronautical engineering.
Curated OER
Principles of Flight: Flying Paper Airplanes
Students investigate ways to enhance an object's flying ability. In this model construction lesson, students construct two paper airplanes, one of which is twice as big as the first. Students compare and contrast the two separate...
Curated OER
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.
Macmillan Education
Women's History Month Activity Kit
Boost reading comprehension and shed light on famous women of history with books and learning activities, which include a board game, word search, crossword puzzle, and a quiz.
Teach Engineering
Will It Fly?
Go fly a kite, then fly a plane! The 19th part of a 22-part unit on aviation looks at the way kites and gliders help aid in the understanding of flight. Pupils discuss how engineers used kites to influence airplane designs.
Discovery Education
Jets in Flight
This Discovery Education activity provides the information needed to understand the basics of flight. Before taking off, young pilots learn the eight stages of the engineering design process. Small groups then design and build an...