Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Principles Of Flight: Wings That Spin

For Teachers K - 1st
Students discover how flight is possible.  In this physics lesson, students investigate the properties of a blimp and gyro-copter, comparing rotating wings and fixed wings of aircraft.  Students create their own model aircraft...
Lesson Plan
LABScI

Catapult: Flight of the Marshmallows

For Students 6th - 12th
Watch your marshmallows fly. The engaging STEM activity has groups create a catapult to launch marshmallows. After testing their prototypes, they consider improvements and redesign their catapults.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Apollo Moon Landing

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students explore paper rockets, learn about the Apollo Program and Apollo spin-offs, and use simple office supplies to design and create a new useful product. This amazing plan is incredibly well written and leads students through a...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Gliders

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students design and build a small glider. They see how the flight of a bird is similar to the flight of a sailplane. They explain how birds get their thrust and how they control their direction of flight.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Glide Away

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students design and construct a gliding aircraft. They use the Internet as a research tool to gain background information about specific flight principles.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Rockets!!

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Students launch a rocket.  In this laws of motion lesson, students discuss the forces of flight, how a plane flies and how a rocket gets off the ground.  Students watch a video about rocket launches, discuss Newton's Third Law...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Testing and Refining Aircraft Design

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students 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...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How Things Fly

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students explain basic principles of aeronautics such as gravity and lift. In this How Things Fly lesson, students visit the interactive, hands-on How Things Fly gallery at the Smithsonian. Students perform three experiments that...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Dayna Lykins, Leanna Prater

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders compare and contrast gliding flight and true flight. They investigate the basic principles of aeronautics. The class participates in activities to observe lift and the effect of air. Students design and fly their own...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How Things Fly

For Teachers 8th - Higher Ed
Students research the mechanics of flight and create a slideshow with one slide dedicated to each of these topics: lift, drag, thrust, and weight. They create a short quiz regarding the material that they presented and give it to their...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Aviation, Aeronautics and Aerodynamics

For Teachers 1st - 12th
Young scholars investigate the physics of flight through various experiments. In this physics lesson plan, students construct different flying objects. They explain the dynamics that make these object fly.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Leaving on A Jet Plane

For Teachers 2nd - 4th
Students create an airplane by listening to directions. They also to measure the pieces for the airplane and compare and contrast their test flights.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Full of Hot Air

For Teachers 7th - 9th
Students investigate technology and its many designs to make our lives easy. In this science lesson, students build a hot air balloon and answer specific questions about weight and rides in the hot air balloon. They analyze their data...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Newton's Laws of Motion

For Teachers 9th
Ninth graders utilize Newton's Laws of Motion to explain how things move, create poster illustrating each law of motion, and present and explain their poster to classmates.