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Activity
PBS

Reading Adventure Pack: Flight

For Parents 3rd Standards
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...
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Interactive
DocsTeach

Patent Analysis: Wright Brothers' Flying Machine

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
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...
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Interactive
DocsTeach

Analyzing a Photograph of Amelia Earhart

For Teachers K - 2nd
Amelia Earhart forever changed the idea of who could be pilots. The activity helps young academics examine a photo of Amelia Earhart to understand what it tells individuals about the past. Scholars participate in group discussions and...
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Assessment
Concord Consortium

Flying High

For Students 7th - 12th
Some planes are just more efficient than others. Young mathematicians use data on the number of seats, airborne speed, flight length, fuel consumption, and operating cost for airplanes to analyze their efficiency. They select and use...
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Lesson Plan
1
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Kenan Fellows

Weight and Balance of an Airplane

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
A career in aeronautics might be calling your class members. Building from the previous two lessons in the series, learners continue analyzing the mathematics of aeronautics. Groups create a paper airplane using paperclips for balance....
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Activity
1
1
Teach Engineering

Let's Get it There Fast

For Teachers 5th - 7th Standards
Are planes the best shipping method? Using maps, pupils determine the fastest mode of transportation between two cities. Given a list of items to ship, groups decide the best shipping method to finish the 18th segment of a 22-part unit.
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Activity
1
1
Teach Engineering

Physics Tug of War

For Teachers 5th - 7th Standards
Slide books with a little assistance from Newton. Using books, groups create a demonstration of Newton's Second Law of motion. Pupils compare the distance traveled by one and two books when they apply a force to them.
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Activity
1
1
Teach Engineering

Windy Tunnel

For Teachers 7th - 9th Standards
Lift—it is about the wing's attack. Using a virtual wind tunnel, pupils investigate wing shape and angle of attack. Learners use worksheets to record their observations and to convert verbal relationships into mathematical equations in...
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Activity
1
1
Teach Engineering

Design a Flying Machine

For Teachers 5th - 7th Standards
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...
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Lesson Plan
1
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Teach Engineering

Future Flights: Imagine Your Own Flying Machines!

For Teachers 5th - 7th Standards
What will flying look like in the future? The 21st lesson in a 22-part unit on aviation reviews the major aspects of the lesson. Pupils brainstorm ideas of a future flying machine.
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Lesson Plan
1
1
Teach Engineering

Balsa Glider Competition

For Teachers 5th - 7th Standards
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...
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Lesson Plan
1
1
Teach Engineering

Will It Fly?

For Teachers 5th - 7th Standards
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.
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Lesson Plan
1
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Teach Engineering

Airplanes Everywhere: Land! Water! Sky! Oh, My!

For Teachers 5th - 7th
How important is aviation? Using the background information, teachers provide the class with a brief history of aviation. The class discusses how airplanes are important to the area of transportation in the 17th installment of a...
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Activity
1
1
Teach Engineering

Better By Design

For Teachers 5th - 7th Standards
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...
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Activity
1
1
Teach Engineering

Building-Testing-Improving Paper Airplanes: Head's Up!

For Teachers 5th - 7th Standards
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...
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Lesson Plan
1
1
Teach Engineering

Take Off with Paper Airplanes

For Teachers 5th - 7th Standards
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...
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Activity
1
1
Teach Engineering

What a Drag!

For Teachers 5th - 7th Standards
Stop and drop what is in your hand! Pupils investigate how form effects drag in the 12th part of a 22-part unit on aviation. Groups create equally weighted objects and determine which one falls the fastest by collecting data.
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Lesson Plan
1
1
Teach Engineering

May the Force Be With You: Thrust

For Teachers 7th - 9th Standards
Force the plane through the air. The lesson introduces the force on an airplane that makes it go forward. Pupils learn how Newton's laws of motion apply to flight in the eighth segment of a 22-part unit on flight.
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Activity
1
1
Teach Engineering

Bend That Bar

For Teachers 5th - 7th Standards
Bend it, but don't break it. Groups investigate the strength of different materials. Using a procedure in the seventh segment of a 22-part series on aviation, pupils determine how far a rod will bend. They determine the strength-to-mass...
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Lesson Plan
1
1
Teach Engineering

May the Force Be with You: Weight

For Teachers 5th - 7th Standards
Too much material will weigh you down. The sixth segment in a series of 22 highlights how weight affects a plane. Pupils learn that engineers take the properties of materials, including weight, when designing something. 
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Worksheet
Royal Society of Chemistry

Gimli Glider—Anecdotes for Chemistry Teachers

For Students 6th - 12th Standards
What's the moral of this story? Units save lives! Teach measurement conversion through storytelling in a quick math-based lesson. Young scientists learn how one country's decision to swap from imperial to metric standard units caused an...
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Interactive
1
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NASA

Resolving 2-Plane Traffic Conflicts by Changing Speed—Problem Set E

For Students 5th - 9th Standards
What do you do to change arrival times of airplanes when a different route is not available? The fifth interactive in a series of six presents problems where pupils must find solutions to conflicts of safety rules. They must decide how...
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Interactive
1
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NASA

Resolving 3-Plane Traffic Conflicts by Changing Route—Problem Set C

For Students 5th - 9th Standards
Keep the planes from crashing. Pupils work with three airplanes and change their flight paths to keep them at a safe distance from each other. Individuals work through three problems in the third interactive in a set of six with...
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Interactive
1
1
NASA

Resolving 2-Plane Traffic Conflicts by Changing Route—Problem Set B

For Students 5th - 9th Standards
Do pilots create appropriate spacing between aircraft by traveling a longer or shorter path? An interactive presents two airplanes that violate safety protocols. Pupils must determine how to change the path of one plane to create the...