Physics of Flying (and Falling)

[Jackie]

Hello all! My nearly-6yo daughter requested that we do a unit on how things fly, and also that we work on doing an egg drop project. So far, all I have in mind are the guidelines at The Egg Drop Project, maybe flight testing a lot of paper airplanes (possibly with this book or this Klutz book), and pulling a few lessons from BFSU2.

 

I'm open to docus, books, apps, hands-on, kits, whatever people might have for me. This is a topic she has had mild interest in for a long time, but not an obsession, so I'd like to keep it relatively simple and relatively low cost.

[Mike in SA]

I can't suggest a particular curriculum here, but the principles are relatively easy to demonstrate.  Look up demonstrations of lift, Bernoulli's principle, thrust, or propulsion. 

 

A jet can be demonstrated by something as simple as a balloon (the escaping air produces very little thrust; the pressure difference of the gas inside the balloon causes the forward motion, as there is one point of unbalanced pressure - the front of the balloon).  Bernoulli's principle can be demonstrated with a beach ball and a leaf blower (start blowing vertically - the difference in air velocity on the top & bottom surfaces will cause the ball to rotate, and also hold it in place as the leaf blower rotates off of vertical).

 

 

[Arcadia]

For ideas

 

This book Backyard Ballistics

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1613740646

 

This website National Association of Rocketry

http://www.nar.org

[EndOfOrdinary]

Leonardo Da Vinci did some of the most amazing nature study and physics work with flight. It would be a very good way to incorporate history and nature with the science if you wanted. His war machines for the Medachi (sp?) family are interesting takes on adapting birds.

 

The Wright Brothers based much of their original work on the wings of gulls off the coast of the Carolinas. The observed crows in Ohio and then went out to the coastal areas for tests and found the gulls easier to observe.

 

You can find plans online to make various models of DaVinci and the Wrights planes.

 

There is a free app called Aero which allows you to fly a bird, but you use your fingers to adjust lift, drag, the wing tips, the whole deal. My son LOVED it. Monster Physics is another one which is pretty neat, only it is not just physics.

 

I will have to ask Ds. He got really into flight at one point, but most was done by himself so I only know the edges.

[laundrycrisis]

Fun Flight Facts for Kids

http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/sciencefacts/flight.html

 

Video of bowling ball and feather being dropped at the same time in a huge vacuum chamber: 

 

Edited April 17, 2016 by Laundrycrisis2

[TerriM]

I love the Klutz paper airplane book you mentioned.  Used to give it as a birthday gift to everyone 6-8yo I knew.  That said, it's probably more appropriate for 8-12 range since there's a lot of precise folding.  But if she's detail oriented, she'll be fine.

[Eagle]

I don't know if there is anywhere you can get Pathfinders models there, but they are really wonderful. These two would tie in nicely with a unit on flight:

http://www.pathfindersdesignandtechnology.com/portfolio-item/da-vinci-ornithopter/

http://www.pathfindersdesignandtechnology.com/portfolio-item/da-vinci-helicopter/

[Eagle]

The New Way Things Work (David Macaulay) has quite a bit of information about flight.

 

We have the Usborne book 100 Paper Planes to Fold and Fly. It is not too difficult. There are only a few styles of plane to learn to fold, but lots of nice papers to make into your planes.

 

Ds loved the book Galileo's Leaning Tower Experiment. It might go nicely with your egg drop experiments.

 

I have The Flying Machine Book on my list to purchase for next year, as well as Flight by Von Hardesty.

 

The picture book "Rosie Revere, Engineer" is adorable, contains a great message, has a female engineer main character, and is about a flying machine!

Edited April 18, 2016 by Eagle

[Mike in SA]

The Smithsonian website has an online exhibit called How Things Fly.Plenty of activities.

The Smithsonian exhibit is one of the better ones out there...

[Jackie]

Just in case anyone else ever stumbles across this thread, I found what looks to be a good unit study on the topic from the Indianapolis Children's Museum and the Academy of Model Aeronautics, aimed at grades 3-5: https://www.childrensmuseum.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Educators/3-5_FlightAdventures_UOS.pdf