Teach Engineering
Airplane Tails and Wings: Are You in Control?
Keep everything under control. The instructional activity, the 16th segment in a 22-part unit, provides a more detailed look at the parts of a plane, specifically the control surfaces. Pupils learn about the construction of the wings and...
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...
Curated OER
The Aspect Ratio of Wings
Junior engineers examine aspect ration in airplane wings. Using the length and width of two differetn wings, they calculate the aspect ratios and compare drag rankings. An engineering or space science class would benefit from this...
Teach Engineering
May the Force Be With You: Lift
Get the class up and going with a activity that discusses how airplane wings provide lift. Pupils use their knowledge of Bernoulli's Principle to develop an explanation of how it creates lift on airplane wings.
Curated OER
Airplane Wings
Students examine the aerodynamics of a wing and how it generates lift. In this flight activity students complete several experiments including how to build a paper plane and how airfoils affect performance.
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...
Curated OER
Testing and Refining Aircraft Design
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...
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...
Curated OER
Aerospace/Aeronautical Engineering: Build a Paper Airplane
Students brainstorm what it is like to fly on an airplane and discuss the parts of a plane. Students construct a paper plane of their own, decorate it, have a competition, and discuss the importance of each part of a plane and the role...
Curated OER
The Legendary Raptors
How are raptors and airplanes alike? Combine science and language arts in this fun and interactive project. Young scientists research the animal in order to design their own aircraft, and compete in a contest for farthest, fastest, and...
Curated OER
Design of Airfoil for Given Lift
Pupils use FoilSim to design an airplane wing that generates a given lift. As they change parameters such as airspeed, altitude, angle of attack, thickness and curvature of the airfoil, and size of the wing area, the software calculates...
Teach Engineering
Windy Tunnel
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...
Curated OER
Paper Airplane Activity
Ninth graders select and build one of five different paper airplane designs and test them for distance and for time aloft. Part of this activity is designed to explore NASA developed software, FoilSim, with respect to the lift of an...
Curated OER
The Invention of the Airplane
Students explore the history of the airplane and the Wright brothers. In this aviation lesson students examine the Wright brothers stories and kites.
Curated OER
Airplane Parts/Functions Problem Sets
Students label and describe the functions of the parts of an airplane. They access a NASA Web-based textbook and read a series of lessons before labeling the parts of an airplane.
Teach Engineering
May the Force Be With You: Drag
Do not let friction drag you down! The 11th segment in a series of 22 focuses on the fourth force acting upon an airplane—drag. Pupils learn about the effects and causes of drag.
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Wind Tunnel Testing
One of the factors that automotive engineers must consider is wind drag. The less wind drag, the more efficient the car will be. They perform many tests in wind tunnels, then refine their designs and test again. Using simple materials,...
Curated OER
Compare Human-made Objects with Natural Objects
Students examine and observe how many human-made objects get their basic design from things in nature. They listen to the book "Nature Got There First," compare/contrast hollow bones with drinking straws, bird beaks and tool pliers, and...
Curated OER
Mimicking Nature; Science, Aviation, Flight, Wings
Learners consider the relationship between form and flight and investigate the history of man made flight and how wing shape and flexibility affects the maneuverability of an aircraft.
Curated OER
Airplane Propeller
Students examine the different kinds of propellers and their functions. In this airplane lesson plan students build a hand made propeller.
Curated OER
Wing Shapes and Areas
Students, after reading the explanation given below, use FoilSim to determine the weight of the aircraft that can be lifted by a pair of wings of each type. They also design a unique platform of a wing to lift a plane weighing 11500 pounds.
Curated OER
Build a Paper Plane
Students study the history of the paper plane. In this design lesson students create several types of paper planes and determine if there is a difference in mean flight distances.
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...