Curated OER
From Airmail to Airlines
Students explore changes in air transportation from 1920 to the present. In this air flight lesson plan, students are introduced to the history of air transportation. This lesson plan contains three different activities that will...
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Lift and Launch Angle
Students engage in a hands-on experiment to determine how launch angles affect airflow around the wing of an aircraft. They view a series of photographs and read information describing the Wright Brothers' experiences. They complete a...
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Paper Dart Airplane
Students create a paper dart airplane and measure its flight pattern. In this flight lesson, students follow the included directions to build their own paper airplane. The students change the aileron configurations to see how it affects...
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An Uplifting Experience
Fifth graders research and complete a graphic organizer about the principles of flight. In this aviation lesson, 5th graders experiment to understand the work of Daniel Bernouli and his discoveries about air pressure. Students create...
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Paper Airplane Contest
Students research principles of flight. They design their own paper airplanes and make predictions about the performance of different designs. Students keep track of their findings in an electronic journal.
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Exploring Aerodynamics
Students explore aerodynamics. In this aerodynamics lesson, students study the flight patterns of three paper airplanes and discover the underlying principles of aerodynamics. Resources and grade level modifications are present.
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Determining Center of Gravity
Students complete calculations involving the structure and properties of matter. They engage in a variety of problem solving activities to help them determine the center of gravity.
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Aviation Pioneers
Students research the Wright Brothers historic first flight and design a travel poster asking for volunteers to participate. Write a newspaper account of the first flight and include how the local people may have felt about the Wright...
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NUMB3RS Activity: Fresh Air and Parabolas
Explore parabolas and investigate linear and quadratic functions to solve problems symbolically and graphically. Also use parametric functions to display trajectories on a graphing calculator.
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Kite building activity
Learners explore how a kite flies; this lesson is a precursor for the windmill activity. By exploring how a kite flies, the students explore the power of the wind; particulary how drag, lifft and gravity enable objects such as kites and...
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How Do Airplanes Get Off the Ground
Students construct various types of paper airplanes, exploring action and reaction forces by conducting a paper airplane rodeo. Students then discuss how Newton's Third Law of Motion affected their planes.
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The Wrights' Flight: History Through Primary Sources
Students read primary source material about the Wrights' first flight such as a journal and a telegram. In this The Wrights' Flight lesson, students select the most reliable primary source and compare the pros and cons of using primary...
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THE FLIGHT PLATFORM
Students examine forces that effect flight. In this flight instructional activity students answer questions that are asked of them and the ones that they ask themselves.
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Come Fly With Me...Aviation
Students conduct internet research on aviation and pioneer aviators. They create an alphabet book r with flight related terms, write a short biography of a pioneer aviator and take part in a paper plane flying contest.
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Flying With The Wright Stuff
Students explore the history of flight, specifically the Wright brothers. Pupils create paper airplanes. They discuss considerations in building an aircraft such as drag, thrust, and weight. Classmates compare the Wright Brother's...
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Four Forces of Flight
Students explore the four forces of flight. They investigate the four forces of flight: lift, drag, thrust and weight (gravity). They experiment with flight-testing various objects commonly found around the house and constructing paper...
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Assembling an Aircraft
Students practice reading directions from a task card to assemble a paper aircraft during their Moon, Mars and Beyond mission. They relate the activity to their mission work and recognize the importance of reading directions.
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Aircraft Trajectory Problem Set
Students read text from a NASA Web-based textbook then demonstrate an understanding of the text by using it to complete an activity on aircraft trajectories.
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Flight Unit Culminating Activities
Students participate in a variety of culminating activities surrounding a unit on flight. They design and test a plane at an interactive website and then write a paragraph explaining what the qualifications are for their ideal 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.
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Happy 100th Birthday Airplane
Students research the Wright Brothers and their plane. In this airplane history lesson, students use a hotlist of sites to research and create an airplane. A question is provided for each site.
Teach Engineering
May the Force Be with You: Weight
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.
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...
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How Things Fly
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...