|
Overview: Students
use experimental procedures to design and test the flight
distances of paper airplanes.
Booklink: Show Me How to Write an
Experimental Science Fair Paper by Judy Fisher Shubkagel,
Show Me How Publications, Independence, MO, 1993. ISBN
1-883484-00-6
Science and Math Activity Link:
Children use experimental procedures (problem statement,
hypotheses, independent variables, dependent variables,
controlled variables, data collection and analyses, conclusions,
etc.) to investigate the problem, "Will the number of paper
clips on the nose of a paper airplane affect the distance that
it can fly?" This activity follows the guidelines of the
Booklink, "Show Me How to Write an Experimental Science Fair
Paper."
Objective: Using experimental science
process skills, students design and conduct an investigation to
determine if the number of paper clips on the nose of a paper
airplane affects the distance it will fly.
Science Processes and Content:
Processes—Observing, measuring, communicating, predicting,
identifying problem statements, formulating hypotheses,
manipulating and controlling variables, gathering, displaying
and analyzing data, drawing conclusions, inferring, building
models, and designing and conducting investigations.
Content—Aerodynamics, motions and forces, transfer of energy,
technological design, and science as a human endeavor.
Mathematics Processes and Content:
Processes: investigate mathematical conjectures, apply
mathematics to science, and apply and adapt strategies to solve
problems. Content: investigate questions answered by collecting
and organizing data, select and use appropriate statistical
methods to analyze date and make inferences and predictions
based in data.
National Science Education Standards:
Unifying Concepts and Processes, (1) Science as Inquiry, (2)
Physical Science, (5) Science and Technology, (6) Science in
Personal and Social Perspectives, (7) History and Nature of
Science
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
Principles and Standards: Data Analysis and Probability,
Problem Solving, Reasoning and Proof, and Connections
Materials: Book Show Me How to Write
an Experimental Science Fair Paper, sheets of 8 1/2 x 11"
duplicating or word processing paper, box of paper clips,
cellophane tape, metric tapes or meter sticks,
paper airplane
folding sheet.
Procedure:
In this investigation, there are several phases to be conducted:
(1) preparing the flight range, (2) constructing the paper
airplanes, (3) designing the investigation, (4) conducting the
experiment on the flight range, and (5) designing and conducting
other experiments that investigate other variables.
1. Prepare the Flight Range Select a relatively-isolated,
seldom-used school hallway for the flight range, the place where
the paper airplanes will be launched, observed, and flight
distances measured by the children. Mark a launch line on the
floor with tape. Students will need to throw their airplanes
from behind this line. Beginning at the launch line, tape pieces
of paper on the floor marking one meter distances (a roll of
adding machine paper or toilet paper work well). Mark a distance
of 15 to 20 meters in one meter intervals from the launch line.
Students can measure the distances of their paper airplane
flights to the nearest meter mark.
2. Constructing the Paper Airplane Many of your students
will already know how to construct paper airplanes; however, for
this experiment all the airplanes should be constructed the same
way to ensure a fair test of flight distances. This is a
variable that you and your students will want to control. Each
child should have a sheet of 8 1/2 x 11" paper of the same kind
(another controlled variable). Have them fold it in half long
ways and then unfold it (see the
paper airplane
folding sheet). Next, take one corner and fold it down
to the middle of the page. Fold the other corner the same way.
The paper will now be shaped like a house. Now take the edges
that you have just folded and fold them again into the middle,
making the paper look like a steep "A" frame house. Next, fold
the paper in half again along the latest fold so that the
previously folded flaps are inside. The final fold is for the
wings. Fold the slanted edges out so that they match up
perfectly with the bottom of the plane. To give the plane a
little more stability, each student can tape the wings together
with a 1" piece of tape.* Since students will need to identify
their airplanes on the flight range, ask them to write their
names on the planes or you may wish to have them create their
own airplane decorations--which they love to do. *(Folding is a
"jet" model as described in Bernoulli's Book. See Related
Books).
3. Designing the Investigation For students without many
experiences with experimental design, you are encouraged to
guide them in the design process--discussing the process with
them as they go. Although there are many questions that could be
investigated, choose one, e.g. "Will the number of paper clips
on the nose of the paper airplane affect the distance it can
fly?" Explain that this is a statement of the problem that can
be investigated experimentally and that there are two variables,
(1) the number of paper clips on the nose or independent
variable, and (2) the distance it can fly or the dependent
variable. Explain that everyone will fly their plane 3 times,
once without any paper clips, once with one paper clip, and once
with three paper clips. Ask them to predict which of these
variables will cause the planes to travel the greatest distance.
Then translate their ideas into a hypothesis, g.g. "Three paper
clips on the nose will make the plane fly farther than with none
or one on the plane's nose." Have the students write the
statement of the problem they are investigating, the hypothesis,
the independent variable (number of paperclips), dependent
variable ( distance of flight), and controlled variables (same
hallway, same thrust, same angle of release, etc.). Make sure
they understand and can describe what these processes are.
4. Conducting the Experiment on the Flight Range Lead the
students with their planes to the flight range. With no paper
clips on the nose, have the students launch their planes using a
medium amount of thrust at the same angle of release. (The force
of the throw and the angle are difficult to control but the
issue becomes a good one for discussion of control of
variables). Two or three students can launch at the same time,
then rotate to the back of the launch line. For safety, no one
should be across the line in the launch area until all planes
have been launched. After everyone has launched their planes,
they can now go down range into the launch area to measure and
record the distance of their flight, in meters. Repeat the
investigation twice more, once with one paper clip on the nose
and once with three clips. Now return to the classroom to have
the students record, display (on a chart or graph or both) the
class results. This is a good time to teach or reinforce math
concepts like range, mean, median, and mode. Have the class
examine the data (information from the investigation), determine
if their hypotheses were supported or not supported by the data
(you may want to stress that hypotheses are never "right" or
"wrong", only supported or not supported by the data), and
discuss the experiment and what it showed. Remind them that
although they did only one trial launch each with 0, 1, and 3
paper clips that it is desirable to do several trials with each,
then take an average. Increased trials generally increase
confidence in the data. Have the children use vocabulary
associated with flight, e.g. thrust, drag, lift, gravity, and
others.
5. Designing and Conducting Other Experiments Encourage
the children to design and conduct other paper airplane
experiments on their own, using the same science processes as in
this investigation. Some of the independent variables that may
affect flight distances are: type or weight of paper, airplane
design, placement of paper clips on the planes fuselage, amount
of thrust, flap folds, and so on. You may want to have your
students choose one investigation of their choice to do at home,
including a written and/or verbal report to the class. Make sure
to remind them to use experimental methods.
Safety:
Stress that airplanes must never be thrown toward other people
because of potential eye injury. Students must always be behind
the launch line when airplanes are being tested.
Related Books:
Bernoulli's Book by B.K. Hixson, The Wild Goose Company,
Salt Lake City, UT, 1991. ISBN 1-57156-002-5
The Paper Airplane Book by Seymour Simon, Puffin Books,
NY, 1971. ISBN 0-14-030925-X
Kids' Paper Airplane Book by Ken Blackburn and Jeff
Lammers, Workman Publishing, NY, 1996. ISBN 0-7611-0478-X
Flying Machines by Nick Arnold, Henderson, NY, 1996. ISBN
0-7894-1145-8
Wild Wings by Peter Clemens and Shari Cohen, Lowell House
Juvenile, Los Angeles, CA, 1999. ISBN 0-7373-0312-3
Flights of Imagination: An Introduction to Aerodynamics
by Wayne Hosking, National Science Teachers Association,
Washington, 1990. ISBN 0-87355-067-6
Air and Flight by Neil Ardley, Franklin Watts, Inc., NY,
1984. ISBN 0-531-03775-4 |
