Tech Museum of Innovation
Hoop Glider Design Challenge
The fourth installment of a five-part unit has young engineers designing and testing hoop gliders. They adjust the ratio of the front loop and back loop of the glider to determine the best design for the longest flight.
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...
Teach Engineering
Balsa Glider Competition
Change one variable and try again. Teams build basic balsa gliders and collect data on their flight distances and times. Through collaboration, the team decides on two modifications to make to the basic design and collect data for the...
DiscoverE
Hoop Glider
Fly into an engineering lesson sure to get your scholars' interest off the ground. Young pupils create hoop gliders out of straws and paper hoops. Adjusting the size and number of the hoops lets them investigate the effect on flight...
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.
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...
NASA
The X-1 Paper Glider Kit
After reading an interesting account of how the X-1 aircraft was designed, built, and utilized, young engineers try their hand at constructing a paper glider version of the airplane. They cut out the plane out of a nicely designed...
Curated OER
Force and Gliders
Students explore physics by creating data graphs in class. In this flight properties instructional activity, students read the book Flying Machine and identify the force, resistance and construction necessary to keep a glider in the air....
Curated OER
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,...
Curated OER
Paper Gliders
Sixth graders study friction and drag. In this science lesson plan, 6th graders use different models of gliders and test to see which of the gliders fly the farthest. Students analyze their data and construct a graph.
Curated OER
Lift and Drag: Principles of Flight and the Soaring Imagination
Students construct models of early gas balloons and gliders. In this balloon and glider lesson, students create models of early gas balloons and gliders, discover how the forces of lift and drag effect aircraft in flight, and put on...
Curated OER
Design a Theme Park
Young scholars examine pieces of art by Alice Adams. They discuss what they see in the paintings. In groups, they design their own piece of playground equipment.
Curated OER
Soaring With Air Power
Fourth graders view a Newton's Apple show that explores glider mechanics, explore the four forces, build and fly a glider to specific guidelines. They adjust the glider for greater accuracy and distance using four forces, and assess...
Curated OER
The Art of "Green" Flying
Students create an airship that doesn't use fossil fuel. In this flying instructional activity, students research different types of flying machines that only use wind power. They discuss invention designs by Alexander Graham Bell and...
Curated OER
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.
Curated OER
Aerospace
Learners experiment with weight and balance of a glider. In this flight lesson students construct their own flying glider and record their experiment with it.
Curated OER
Energy Problem Set
Students calculate the potential energy of a glider, the kinetic energy of a moving glider and the change in velocity when potential energy changes to kinetic energy.
Teach Engineering
You Are There... First Flight
Glide into the study of flight. An engaging lesson 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 were...
Curated OER
Harnessing Wind
Students explore the ways that engineers study and harness the wind. They study the different kinds of winds and how to measure wind direction. In addition, students learn how air pressure creates winds and how engineers build and test...
Curated OER
Building Tetrahedral Kites
Students work together to build tetrahedral kites. They must follow directions and the provided materials. They discover the engineering concepts needed to make the kite.
Curated OER
Displacement Problem Set
Young scholars calculate the length of a side of a triangle using a trigonometric function. They calculate the measure of an angle given two sides of a triangle with a trigonometric function.
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Build a Glider
This website contains a challenge for students to build a paper bird that glides at least six feet. The site also contains a lesson plan, tips, and a place for students to document their design process.
PBS
Pbs Teachers: Science Italian Style: Renaissance Machines
Investigate innovative machine designs of the Renaissance, then build a hang glider by following a set of instructions. Modify the design to create a model that can fly longer distances.
Science and Mathematics Initiative for Learning Enhancement (SMILE)
Smile: Lab Work: Come Fly With Me
This site by the Illinois Institute of Technology lets students use a vacuum cleaner hose, ping pong balls, straws and other materials to investigate the effect of moving air upon the surfaces which it hits. Principles are applied as...