Make Paper Planes to Glide Like a Draco
The draco lizard is able to glide from tree to tree using special “wings” that evolved out of its ribs. In this activity your child can explore the science of gliding with a simple paper airplane experiment.
Before You Play
Explain to your child that draco lizards have “wings,” pieces of skin and rib that can be spread out on each side. As the draco takes off, it spreads out the wings and uses them to glide to another tree sometimes up to 200 feet away! Watch this clip to learn more about how draco lizards glide.
Materials
Directions
Make different types of paper airplanes with your child. Encourage him to experiment with known designs and to invent his own! Find instructions to different styles of paper airplanes here.
Number each plane and make a list of the numbers so your child can keep track of how well each plane glided.
You and your child can turns gliding the planes and recording how far they flew using the tape measure. If child experiments with modifying the planes as they go, make sure they record the modifications and the results so they can look back and compare the changed design to the original.
At the end look at the design of the winning plane and the losing plane. Which plane stayed in the air for the shortest time and why? Ask your child why they think the winning plane to stay stayed in the air for such a long time and was able to glide as far as it did.
Math
Science