Introduction

In this lab you will need to use the scientific method to design, build, test, and redesign paper airplane.

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Background:

American aviation pioneers Orville and Wilbur Wright invented the first successful self-propelled airplane. In the 1880s and 1890s, the two brothers published a newspaper and later formed the Wright Cycle Company to build and sell bicycles in Dayton, Ohio.

            The brothers’ interest in aviation started in 1896 when they learned of early European experiments in sustained flight. They began a program for building an airplane by first conducting tests with kites and then gliders. Before attempting powered flight, they solved the essential problems of controlling the plane’s motion in rising, descending, and turning. An isolated beach near Kitty Hawk, NC, was selected for flight tests based on the advice of the U.S. Weather Bureau. After making more than 700 successful glider flights at Kitty Hawk in 1902, the Wright brothers faced the problem of finding an engine light enough and powerful enough to get their plane off the ground. No automobile manufacturer would accept the assignment, so the Wright brothers, along with Charles Taylor, designed and built their own 12-to-16 horsepower engine and propeller for their plane, which was originally named “Flyer I,” but commonly referred to as the ‘Kitty-Hawk.’ On December 17, 1903, Orville achieved the first successful flight ever made in a self-propelled heavier-than-air craft.

            In order for their plane to get off the ground the Wright brothers needed to do many experiments using what we know as the scientific method. The scientific method is the way that scientists gather information and test ideas. In this lab you will examine the scientific method and run some of your own tests using something you probably know a great deal about, paper airplanes. You will create your own paper airplanes and measure their time of flight and distance traveled, just as Orville and Wilbur must have done when they started in the field of aviation using the scientific method.

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The Science Behind Paper Airplanes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EabBvyr4qw4

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Procedures:

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Watch the following power point.

Paper Airplane Activity Experiment

OBJECTIVE

• Demonstrate the principles of the scientific method using paper airplanes.

• Measure the time of flight and the distance traveled.

• Calculate the average velocity of the plane.

MATERIALS

• Several sheets of plain paper--including various types/thickness

• "Walker"   to calulate Distance (Ruler or meter stick)

• Stopwatch

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STEPS to build a Plane

Construct an airplane out of paper. This will be the first test plane or the control.

• YOU need to follow my steps to build it.​  Watch the following video

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pYEglOERxlDliWZTUogw0iD4-3gg-4Sy/view

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1. In the Runway (hallway), and ONLY under the teacher supervision, throw the plane from the starting point and time the interval in seconds from the time it leaves your hand until the time it touches the ground.

   • Measure the distance, in the direction of intended flight, in meters from where you threw the plane to where it landed. Record your measurements in the data table.

2. Repeat letter B two more times so that you have three recordings. Take the average and record them in the data table.

3. On the data table, make observations about the flight. Your observations must be specific (for example: did it turn up, go down, turn right or left, glide well, take a nose dive, etc.?).

4. Discuss with your lab partner the reasons that your plane did what it did.  List the possible reasons after the observations. Next, answer: What can you do to make your plane fly farther?

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