Airplane wings do not all have the same design. With this Science Buddies project you can design your own wings to see which offers the greatest lift. The Science Buddies project ideas are set up consistently beginning with an abstract,...

Explore this NOVA: "Battle of the X-Planes" interactive activity to see how engineers have modified a military plane's sound, shape, and heat emissions to minimize detection.

A challenge for students to build a lightweight wing structure that is 12 inches long and can hold up a heavy load without deflecting. This site contains the challenge, a lesson plan, tips, and a place for students to document their...

This lesson plan teaches the engineering method for testing wherein one variable is changed while the others are held constant. Students compare the performance of a single paper airplane design while changing the shape, size and...

[Free Registration/Login Required] A literary text about a class that has a paper airplane contest. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.

In this fun activity, you will be the "customer" ordering a paper airplane, and your student teams will be engineering companies that will manufacture planes. Before they start making planes, they need to define the criteria and...

Professor Fukano, the famous scientist, has embarked on a new challenge - piloting around the world in a plane of his own design. There's just one problem: there's not enough fuel to complete the journey. Luckily, there are two other...

[Free Registration/Login Required] An informational text about Wilbur and Orville Wright designing the first airplane. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.

A good essay on the development of the airline industry in the United States as a result of World War I. Many companies worked on airplane design, but few survived after the war.

The purpose of this activity is to use a scientific method to determine the effect of control surfaces on a paper glider. The students will construct a paper airplane/glider and test its performance to determine the base characteristics...

The purpose of this activity is for the students to draw a design for their own flying machine. They will apply their knowledge of aircraft design and the forces acting on them. The students will start with a brainstorming activity where...

There's a lot to understand about the simple propeller to see how it affects lift and thrust in an airplane or helicopter. This Science Buddies project gives you lots of ideas on how to change the design of the propeller to achieve...

Students are trained on how to design an airplane. The activity demonstrates how math applies to aeronautics.

Information on paper airplane designs, history, and contests. Click on "Paper Airplane Aerodynamics" for an analysis of the world record holding paper airplane design.

After discussing important flying inventions, young scholars explore technological design by making paper airplanes.

This is a culmination activity used after students have studied Bernoulli's Principle as part of a unit on forces and fluids. Students will use the Internet, textbooks, library resources and their cooperative learning group to design...

Great interactive provides students with an opportunity to use engineering skills to design and test airplane wings based on the methods of the Wright brothers. Step into the workshop and design a set of wings that will fly your glider...

The airplanes unit begins with a lesson on how airplanes create lift, which involves a discussion of air pressure and how wings use Bernoulli's Principle to change air pressure. Following the lessons on lift, students explore the other...

A challenge where student create a plane painting machine which draws a design on your airplane. The site includes the challenge, tips, a lesson plan, and a place for students to document their engineering design process.

Discover Hedy Lamarr's contributions as a woman in STEM in this video from the American Masters film, Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story. Lamarr has received belated acknowledgement for inventing frequency hopping, the basis of secure...

Do you know how an airplane flys? Use this challenge to learn about flight by building a wing that can generate lift from a fan while carrying weight. Find details about the challenge, tips, and a lesson plan on this site. Also, students...

Through this series of three lessons, students will gain an understanding of the basics of flight. They will learn about the four forces of flight and practice their observation skills through a number of fun experiments. In addition,...

A biographical site about the man responsible for designing the sleek Vega that carried pilots on record-setting flights and for designing planes with a stressed skin over an internal frame.

An explanation of the role lift plays in airplane take-off and flight.