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Daredevils of the Sky

Viewing Ideas

Before Watching

1. To create some enthusiasm about the principles needed to fly a plane, challenge your students to a potato chip-throwing contest. First, have them predict how far the potato chip will go. Give each student three chips to throw. Set up a starting line and begin the tossing. Measure and record the distances for each chip. When everyone has had a chance to throw chips, discuss the results. What strategies were most successful? How did the angle of the toss affect the flight (e.g., was the chip thrown flat-face first or edge first)? How did the velocity or spin of the throw affect the flight? Do big chips fly better than small chips? What other objects, such as other food items, would fly better?

2. To demonstrate the effect of airflow in creating lift, ask your students to predict what will happen when they blow across the top of a sheet of paper. Instruct them to hold one edge of the paper under their lower lips and to blow across the top. The paper will rise up because the pressure of the still air underneath the paper is greater than the pressure of the fast-flowing air above the paper. This principle is the basis for airplane flight. The air beneath the wing exerts pressure and pushes upward, providing lift.

After Watching

1. To demonstrate the importance of balancing speed and weight when flying a loop, try this activity. (You may want to conduct it outside.) Give each student four lengths of string, each one meter long, and a water balloon, filled so it is slightly larger than your fist. Have them tie one piece of string to each corner of a 10 cm x 10 cm square of aluminum foil. Place the "pilot" (the water balloon) inside the "plane" (the square of aluminum foil). Gather the free ends of the strings together and swing the "plane" in a circle. Vary the speed of the loop. What happens when the rotations are too slow? Too fast? Try a larger or smaller balloon. What kind of adjustments must be made for changes in weight?