Lesson: How High Can You Fly?
Posted on March 27th, 2011 by ASEE
In this lesson, you’ll introduce your students to the four forces of flight–drag, lift, thrust, and weight–through a variety of fun-filled flight experiments. Students will “fly” for short periods and then evaluate factors that might either increase or decrease their “flight” duration.
Filed under: Class Activities, Grades 6-8, Grades 6-8, Grades K-5, Grades K-5, Lesson Plans | 1 Comment »
Tags: Aerodynamics, Aeronautics, Class Activities, Lesson Plan, Physics
It’s easy to find your way to school. Now imagine trying to navigate the skies, with no signs to point you in the right direction. How do pilots find their way? These “pilot training lessons” developed by the Center for Innovation in Engineering and Science Education at the Stevens Institute of Technology will teach your young aviators the principles of navigation in a fun series of real-time activities.
Basketball not only is fun to play or watch–it packs a lot of math and science in each move. In this lesson, developed by NPR’s Talking Science with John Fontanella, a physicist at the U.S. Naval Academy and author of The Physics of Basketball, students will learn how physics affects the game. What forces are acting on the ball? What must players do to offset these forces? 
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From the “miracle fiber” Kevlar invented by Dupont chemist Stephanie Kwolek to Silly Putty, our world abounds with materials discovered by accident. In this activity from the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), students will learn some serious materials science–and hit several national science and tehcnology standards–by using everyday items to create and investigate the properties of Funny Putty.
In this lesson, students in grades 5 through 8 are challenged to redesign the classic paper cup so that no tape, glue, or staples are necessary, reducing production costs and the cost of individual paper cups. Each pair of students will be given a stack of paper to design a new paper container that can hold water for a short period of time.
In a multipart activity, students in grades 5-9 discover different engineering disciplines and brainstorm how different engineering skills can be applied to local or world problems. This eGFI original class activity is based on the winning submission to eGFI’s innovative teaching idea contest.
Students in grades 5-8 create shimmering snowflakes using a simple chemical process. They supersaturate hot water with borax, then suspend a pipe cleaner shape in the liquid, allowing the crystals to form overnight.
Students in grades 6-12 are challenged to build a drinking straw tower that can withstand simulated earthquake vibrations and increasing weight and pressure. Doing so, they learn basic principles of design and earthquake engineering while practicing team skills.
