What is the science behind a paper plane?
When you throw a paper plane in the air, you are giving the plane a push to move forward. While the plane is flying forward, air moving over and under the wings is providing an upward lift force on the plane. At the same time, air pushing back against the plane is slowing it down, creating a drag force.
What makes a paper airplane fly further?
The aerodynamics of the plane will need to have little drag and be light enough to defy gravity. Paper airplanes also use the forces of lift and thrust. When these four forces are used in balance, paper airplanes will fly longer.
How do you make a paper airplane out of paper?
To make a simple paper airplane, fold a piece of paper in half lengthwise, then unfold it and fold the top 2 corners to the center. Next, fold the angled edges that you just created in towards the center. Fold along your original centerline, then turn your plane over and fold down the top 2 flaps to create wings.
What was the purpose of the paper airplane lesson?
This short lesson was created to provide grade 6 students with a brief introduction to the design cycle. The goal of the lesson was to create a paper airplane that would fly as straight and as far as possible. Basically, students investigated how to make a successful paper airplane.
What are the grasps of a paper airplane?
A GRASPS context sets the design problem-solving stage for students within an authentic performance task. Specifically for our paper airplane lesson, the GRASPS looked like this: Design, build, and launch a paper plane to fly as far and as straight as possible. Student engineer at [SCHOOL NAME].
What are the criteria for a good paper airplane?
As a customer, you will have some criteria for a good paper airplane. Criteria are like goals or objectives. They define what the paper airplane (or in general, the solution to any engineering problem) should do to be considered “good” or “successful.”