This Discovery Education activity provides the information needed to understand the basics of flight. Before taking off, young pilots learn the eight stages of the engineering design process. Small groups then design and build an aircraft and launch system that meet the set criteria and constraints detailed in the resource.

Concepts

flight, lift, drag, thrust, gravity, airplanes, design, engineering design

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Additional Tags

science

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Instructional Ideas

• Use this lesson in conjunction with a study of force
• Provide additional problems dealing with the lift formula

Classroom Considerations

• Requires materials such as Styrofoam meat trays, not normally found in the classroom, 
• A large space is needed to test the aircraft

Pros

• A PowerPoint steps the class through the entire lesson
• Part one of the lesson provides background information needed for the design phase

Cons

• None