Nasa paper airplane template

In the paper airplane activity students select and build one of five different paper airplane designs and test them for distance and for time aloft. Part of this activity is designed to explore NASA developed software, FoilSim, with respect to the lift of an airfoil and the surface area of a wing.

Materials

• calculator
• ruler
• graph paper
• lightweight unlined paper
• scissors
• Download Design for the Dart
• Download FoilSim or execute on-line.

Technology Needed

• Internet Access
• Graphing Calculator (optional)

Time Required

• 2-3 class periods

Classroom Organization

• Students should work in groups of 3 or 4.

Procedure

1. Give students a sheet of unlined paper and instructions for construction of a paper airplane (See download above).

If students are not able to calculate geometric areas, they could make a duplicate plane, cut off the wings, and lay the wings onto measured grids or pieces of graph paper and count the total squares covered, estimating partial squares.

A variation of this technique that eliminates a duplicate plane and cutting wings is to draw or trace a grid on a blank transparency with a sharpie marker and then hold the clear grid over the wings to count squares covered.

The cut off part should be tucked on the inside of the plane when it is refolded in order to keep mass constant. You might ask the class to provide an explanation for doing this.

Extension Activity

• Further activities that your class might try.

Assessment Strategies/Evaluation

1. Each group could make a presentation on their airplane and what made its design successful.
2. Students could individually graph the experimental data and make a report.
3. Challenge students to fold a better plane and explain the reasons for changes in design.
4. Students could write a summary of experimental results and relate the variables tested.