Drag Is… Slow

Objectives

• Determine how manipulating the design of aircraft changes the size and direction of flight forces and link those changes to changes in the aircraft’s motion.

• Explain how the drag force is created and what factors affect it’s size and direction.

Materials

• Per student:
  2 sheets of paper (or more, preferably recycled/reused)
  templates on how to make paper airplanes (optional)- see Other Resources on this page
  

Key Questions

• Which flies/floats better?
• How does the shape of the object affect its aerodynamics?
• What are the forces on the paper?
• Which forces do you change when you change the shape of the paper?

What To Do

1. Hand out 2 sheets of paper to each student.
2. Leave one sheet aside for the moment. With the second sheet, make a paper plane of your own design or based on a template (optional).
3. First, throw the piece of paper and observe its path and behaviour.
4. Next, throw the paper airplane and observe its path and behaviour.

Extensions

• Make different shapes with the flat sheet of paper–crumpled into a ball, folded into a square or any origami shape–and test their flying ability against the paper plane.
• Move different shaped objects through water. Fish and boats are streamlined to reduce drag or water resistance.

Other Resources

10 Paper Airplanes | Templates and folding instructions
Craft-Idea | Origami Paper Planes
Alex’s Paper Airplanes | How to Make a Classic Dart Paper Airplane