LESSON PLAN - Nazareth College



UNIT PLAN: Paper Airplanes and Flight

NYS Mathematics, Science, and Technology Learning Standards Addressed

Standard 1: Students will use mathematical analysis, scientific inquiry, and engineering design, as appropriate, to pose questions, seek answers, and develop solutions.

Standard 6: Students will understand the relationships and common themes that connect mathematics, science, and technology and apply the themes to these and other areas of learning.

Standard 7: Students will apply the knowledge and thinking skills of mathematics, science, and technology to address real-life problems and make informed decisions.

Need to link carefully to specific math and science standards that apply to your grade level. See Power Point presentation for rationale and skills developed.

Unit Objectives

1. Students will explore methods of folding paper airplanes.

2. Students will discover/recognize/identify mathematical concepts utilized in folding (parallel, perpendicular, angle, symmetry, …).

3. Students will fly various folded airplanes. (3 trials for each of 2 designs per team)

4. Students will observe, measure and assess aspects of flight (speed, distance traveled, length of time aloft, direction of travel).

5. Students will perform activities to discover and name basic forces that act on a plane in flight (thrust, lift, drag, gravity) as well as how to counteract common instabilities (roll, pitch, yaw) which hinder flight.

6. Students will determine which flight characteristic they want to optimize in the design of the plane, redesign, refold a new plane.

7. Students will fly redesigned airplanes, collect measurements and record observations.

(3 trials for one optimal design, per team)

8. Students will analyze and present results.

Materials

Paper (unlined photocopy paper)

Folding Instructions and/or the book Championship Paper Planes, Paul Jackson, 1988, ISBN 0-7607-2185-8, Barnes & Noble Books by arrangement with Michael O’Mara Books in London.

Scissors

Paper clips

Tape

Markers

Stop watches

Rulers

Yardsticks

Posterboard

Tissue Paper Strips

Anticipatory Set

Have you ever folded paper to make something? We will be creating paper airplanes using our own designs, and also by following diagrams and reading written instructions for some interesting designs. You’ll make and see geometry as you fold.

Then we’ll fly the planes and investigate which designs produce different flight patterns. Your job will be to modify the design of your plane to produce better flight.

Lesson Body (Guided Inquiry)

Essential Questions

Q1: What ideas from geometry are present (inherent) in folding paper airplanes?

Q2: Explain three important elements of flight.

Q3: How can you optimize flight?

Q4: How is the scientific method used in this project?

Here are my detailed planning notes from our workshop, including expected/hoped for input from students:

Geometry and Paper Airplane Design

Sequence of Learning Activities:

9:30 – 9:45

1) Prewriting Questions: (Free write first (3 min), then add any mathematical or scientific words you think relate or apply (2 min). Share with partner (2 min). Share with entire group (5 min). Record shared thoughts on board.)

What makes a “good” paper airplane?

folded neatly/evenly/symmetrical/balanced

flies well/far/high/long

flies in interesting paths

flies reliably/doesn’t crash

sturdy even after bumping into objects

Why might a paper airplane not fly well?

bulky/too heavy/too light (wrong materials, drag)

not balanced (faulty design or faulty construction)

not folded carefully (faulty construction of good design)

doesn’t stay together/needs tape or support (faulty design, drag)

front heavy (dives down)/back heavy (rear sinks down) [pitches]

veers left or right

rolls (barrel rolls on x-axis)

flat spins [yaws]

error in launch motion (thrust issues)

additional uncontrolled variables (wind speed, wind direction)

9:45 – 10:25

2) Fold an airplane (written instructions provided)

Brief introduction to folding terminology 9:45 – 9:55

They fold individually, help one another, we wander and discuss 9:55 – 10:25

Active discovery and investigation of geometrical concepts (see separate handout) inherent in folding Use geometry vocabulary throughout the lesson.

Skills developed:

Read a blueprint/diagram

Follow written and/or verbal instruction

Collaborate

Create a model that will be used to study specific properties and concepts

10:25 – 10:35

3) Reflect in Scientific Notebook:

What geometry terms or examples did you notice while folding?

Explain something you learned while folding.

Describe a problem you had while folding.

What would you try to fix the problem?

(Continue in Scientific Notebook)

10:35 – 10:45

Which plane will fly best? (see all models they made, additional folded models provided)

Why? (visual observation, predict, hypothesize)

Each team choose two different models for experiment.

10:45 – 10:50 Teach launch motion to entire group

4) Fly them in the halls

10:50 – 11:05

If time and interest, measure and record 3 flights for each of 2 planes. Make launch motion consistent. Have meter sticks laid out in hallway along wall. Provide stopwatches. One team start at each doorway at top of stairwells and head in (4 groups). One team start at each end of center hallway and aim in (2 groups).

Otherwise, just fly them several times and visually decide which plane “flew better”.

If time: Identify variable you want to measure. How do you define “flew better”? (farthest distance, longest time in the air, fastest speed, most interesting flight path, consistent flights, …)

11:05 – 11:25

5) Analyze what happened. What went wrong?

What flight problem(s) did you observe?

How could you correct one problem? (Provide tape, paper clips, scissors, rulers)

Add paper clips or tape to adjust balance.

Create more flaps.

Refold more symmetrically and/or more cleanly (less bulk)

Make one change to one plane. Refly that plane 3 flights. Compare results to original data.

11:25 – 11:30

Document (include before and after sketches) the design changes and flight results in your Scientific Notebook.

11:30 – 12:10

6) Investigate forces that effect flight.

11:30 – 11:35

Prewrite about these after flying experience. What descriptions can students make on their own? What vocabulary do they use? Can they draw diagrams for any specific situations they observed?

Experiments:

lift (at seats) 11:35 – 11:45

- blow above strip of paper to lessen air pressure there

- greater air pressure below strip cause paper to rise, creating lift

- provide diagram of airplane wing with moving air streams, they label

- this is Bernoulli’s Principle

- bending tips of airplane wings up or down slightly can assist lift and significantly improve flight

- similar to adding flaps

- write about lift (1 min)

gravity (at seats) 11:45 – 11:55

- design must create enough lift to overcome effects of gravity

- drop heavy and light objects from same height at same time, should land at same moment (unless large difference in objects allows significant air resistance) They choose objects from room. Have things available.

- This is Galileo’s experiment, orange vs. grape

- Planes with greater mass need greater thrust

- Extension: Connect to real world data, have students research materials used in airplane construction and power of engines. Look for newspaper announcements of contracts awarded defense contractors to develop new style of aircraft

- Lift from wings must be greater than pull of gravity

- Write about gravity (1 min)

drag 11:55 – 12:05

- race with one person holding a piece of posterboard in front of them

- poor folding (and some designs) can create drag on paper airplanes

- look at front profiles of folded models

- write about drag (1 min)

thrust

- what serves as thrust for a paper airplane? (arm, wind)

- forward thrust must be greater than drag

- Write about thrust (1 min)

12:05 – 12:20

It would be nice if they came up with these “plane instabilities” (below) in prewriting, sharing. Probably no time, so draw out in quick discussion familiar problem flight motions below – pitch is most common.

Demonstrate with plane in hand – terms and diagrams on screen. Ask them how to counteract the problems.

pitch (nose dives down, or rising nose causes rear to fall to earth)

How could you counteract nose dive pitch? (bend rear corner wing tips up)

How could you counteract nose up pitch? (bend rear corner wing tips down) Try this! This is valuable and often used information (

roll (as in stunt flying, dip wing down and keep doing barrel rolls)

- horizontally flat sturdy paper will roll when “flown”

- counteract roll by making a center crease/angle between the wings (the dihedral angle)

- with this angle, the plane can rock from side to side and still resist the roll

yaw (flat circular spin as in horrific weather)

- counteracted by vertical fuselage (body of plane, vertical height of main center crease)

- counteracted by rudders (vertically fold up entire outer edge of each wing parallel to center crease)

12:20 – 12:25

Draw a flat rectangle in perspective – three of them.

Have teachers draw a linear axis and a circular arrow to show the differences between:

pitch (turning/rotation about side to side axis – commonly the y-axis in 3D)

roll (turning/rotation about the front to back axis – commonly the x-axis in 3D)

yaw (turning/rotation about the up to down vertical axis – commonly the z-axis in 3D)

12: 25 – 12:30

Reflect on the morning in your notebook.

What ideas or practices might you use with your students?

Closure

Geometry is all around you. Take the time to notice, use and appreciate it.

Recognize and use the optimization process (design, test, observe, measure, analyze, modify) in all you do. Constant and never-ending improvement! Be realistic about constraints.

Accommodations for IEP

1. Have pairs of students teach each other how to fold a plane.

2. Pair classes of fifth graders and kindergartners to fold and fly together.

3. Use different level instructions for folding several planes, increasing from simple to intermediate to advanced folding techniques.

Homework/Assessment

1. Individual students fold a new design.

2. Students identify geometrical objects and concepts occurring at each specific stage or motion in folding.

3. Students create written instructions and labeled diagrams (step by step) to allow others to fold a plane they design themselves. Have another student read and fold.

4. Students will describe a new understanding they had while folding (a key moment, how a problem was solved).

5. Students describe and demonstrate forces involved, principles of flight, and flight instabilities.

Extensions

Gliders, airfoils (flying wings)

Mechanized flight (private, commercial, military airplanes)

Cost of flight and design of new planes

Classifying things that fly

Historical timeline of human flight

Literature about flight– fantasy, myth, non-fiction, technical manuals

Resources See last slide of Power Point

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