NASA
Resolving 2-Plane Traffic Conflicts by Changing Route—Problem Set B
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...
Curated OER
Tale of the Tape
How can baseball and skeet-shooting be modeled mathematically? Sports lovers and young mathematicians learn how to use quadratic equations and systems of equations to model the flight paths of various objects.
NASA
Resolving 3-Plane Traffic Conflicts by Changing Route—Problem Set C
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...
Illustrative Mathematics
Satellite
Learners practice relating rules of trigonometry and properties of circles. With a few simplifying assumptions such as a perfectly round earth, young mathematicians calculate the lengths of various paths between satellite and...
NASA
Introduction to Real Air Traffic Control—Problem Set A
Understand what it takes to control planes safely. The first lesson in a series of six introduces the class to the air traffic control situation. The pupils develop their understanding of units used in air travel, then learn how to read...
Curated OER
Bird and Dog Race
Your pupil's pet dog and bird are racing down the city streets. In order to know who is going to win, they better know something about calculating rates, the Pythagorean Theorem, and applying those topics to the map of the city.
Curated OER
Throwing Horseshoes
Collaborative learners interpret a quadratic expression written in different forms in this task centered on throwing horseshoes.
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Asymmetric Dimple Patterns and Golf Ball Flight
Have you ever wondered why golf balls have a pattern of dimples on their surface? The dimples are important for determining how air flows around the ball when it is in flight. The dimple pattern, combined with the spin imparted to the...
Other
Plane Math: Activities: Flight Path
Students work in groups to find the shortest path between two cities. The activity explores problem solving, number relationships, estimation, and measurement. The resource consists of a lesson plan, group activity instructions, lesson...
Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments: Numb3 Rs: Lost and Found
Based off the hit television show NUMB3RS, this lesson introduces students to chaos theory, and specifically Levy flight paths. These allow students to "trace back" where an object may have originated, given its endpoint. This lesson is...