This is a recording of a recent live teleclass I did with thousands of kids from all over the world. I’ve included it here so you can participate and learn, too!
Soar, zoom, fly, twirl, and gyrate with these amazing hands-on classes which investigate the world of flight. Students created flying contraptions from paper airplanes and hangliders to kites! Topics we will cover include: air pressure, flight dynamics, and Bernoulli’s principle.
Materials:
- 5 sheets of 8.5×11” paper
- 2 index cards
- 2 straws
- 2 small paper clips
- Scissors, tape
- Optional: ping pong ball and a small funnel
Air pressure changes as the air is warmed and cooled by the sun. The warmer the air, the lower the air pressure. Keep in mind that we usually measure air pressure in relation to sea level because that’s where pressure is the highest. In other words, even if air temperature is constant, the pressure decreases as you go up in altitude (i.e. climb a mountain). By the way, the amount of water vapor in the air can affect air pressure, but air temperature is still the biggest factor.
Hi Aurora, we’re enjoying all the lessons, especially the experiments. Can you please explain what causes air pressure to change?
Actually, there is only one video on this page. The experiment is about 20 minutes into this video. If you aren’t able to hear, try clicking the little volume setting on the bottom right of the video player. Also, try considering restarting your computer, trying a different internet browser or a different computer.
I don’t see the video for this lesson (Mechanics: flying things). Also, the video for the experiment doesn’t have sound for me. (thanks!)
cool
Which experiments are you looking for?
How do you get to the page with all the experiments.
I am having trouble getting around the website =(
They do fall at the same rate on a planet or moon without an atmosphere. It’s because of the air resistance that one falls more slowly than the other. If you take a sheet of paper and wad it up, and let it fall at the same time as another sheet of paper, the waded up paper falls faster than the sheet. They both weigh the same, but the air needs to in effect “get out of the way” a lot more with the larger sheet needs so it falls more slowly.
We are still having a hard time understanding why a feather doesn’t fall at the same rate as a brick if gravity is pulling on both. You mentioned in the last section that air pressure is the reason…but after studying this, we are still not quite sure we understand…could you give a little more explanation as to how to explain this? Thank you!
Sure thing! Just click on the link on the upper right that says “Experiments” and you’ll find not just three but nearly a dozen different ones to make! 🙂
Hi Aurora,
We watched the video of your Flight class and at the end, when you are about to show how to make 3 different types of paper airplanes the video finishes. My girls were all ready to make them! Help!
It depends on the size, shape and weight of the object, in addition to how you are getting it to fly (are there wings?)
How much force do you need to get an object in flight?
Hmmm.. sounds like something might be mixed up with your account. Tonya will connect with you and get you rolling!
Today’s date is 6/2/15 10:31am central time. I am getting a message that says I don’t have access to all of the content & you will release it at a later date. We are trying to start the kite & flying experiments you have already opened to us. How can I get access to the rest of the content & when will that be available. My kids are excited to get started!
I’ll have my team contact you right away!
It says i don’t have access to this section is that a problem, or is that just me?;)
Sorry for the confusion! e-Camp is available June through August. 🙂
i can’t seem to get to the e science camp ! Help please!
Yes – that’s the other part! There’s not a lot of lift generated by this design – it’s just really streamlined to slip through the air. 🙂
The paper circles are also going through the air to,is that the other part?
That’s part of it… what else is going through the air besides the straw?
I think that the air going through the tubes makes it fly straight.If thats not right tell me what is.
Good question! What do YOU think? 🙂
why does the airplane with the tubes fly straight
Sorry about that… this teleclass accompanies another section of e-Science also that includes the Flight Lab, which is currently in the e-Camp section that is released in summer. Let me see if I can help… I’ve rewritten the exercise questions so they match the teleclass. 🙂
Hi Aurora,
The experiments for questions 4, 8, 9, 10, and 11 are not in the video. Hw are you supposed to know the answers
There were many different inventors that worked on this at the turn of the century and for hundreds of years before that. You might check your local library to learn more about great inventors during the early 1900s!
who made the first plane that did not work
Hit PAUSE and then go back a bit and replay it again as many times as you need to. 🙂
I got lost at making the airplane after you fold it in half. What do I do?
Hi Aurora,
I love the materials I have seen so far…thanks for putting together an
awesome website! To get ready to learn about flying machines, I thought it
would be fun to figure out how much air pressure my grandkids actually
experience living here at sea level in the Bay Area. It takes only simple
math to determine body surface area, and from that to calculate the total
pressure (okay, I did use a conversion calculator to convert the metric
surface area into inches). We learned that my grandkids (who are very close
in size) have about 17,537 pounds of air pressure pushing on them at all
times. Wow! That was an eye opener.
Best,
Anne