take to the skies

TAKE TO THE SKIES Exploring the Air Around Us

An Elementary-Grades Afterschool STEM Curriculum

From the USS Hornet Museum Education Department

Sam Nolting, Fall 2016

[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

Take to the Skies: Exploring the Air Around Us

USS Hornet Museum Education Department i

About This Document

This packet contains the outline, syllabus, curriculum, assessments, and

instructional materials for Take to the Skies, an afterschool program on aviation,

fluid dynamics, and the properties of air, developed by the USS Hornet Museum’s

Education Department for use with 1st through 5th graders in Alameda.

The program is designed to cover six one-hour sessions, but the material in this

packet will easily stretch to more, or can be condensed to fewer, sessions of

different durations.

We intend this material to be accessible to informal educators of all experience

levels, and we hope that you find it useful in your own teaching. If you use these

pieces, we welcome your feedback.

Sam Nolting

STEM Program Coordinator

USS Hornet Museum Education Department

PO Box 460, Alameda CA 94501

uss-hornet.org

[email protected]

facebook.com/USSHornetMuseumEDU

mailto:[email protected]

https://www.facebook.com/USSHornetMuseumEDU/

http://www.facebook.com/USSHornetMuseumEDU


USS Hornet Museum Education Department ii

Table of Contents

About This Document .........................................................................................................i

Table of Contents ..................................................................................................................ii

Goals ..........................................................................................................................................1

Big Questions ..........................................................................................................................1

Big Ideas ...................................................................................................................................1

Objectives.................................................................................................................................2

Anatomy of a Day .................................................................................................................3

Calendar ....................................................................................................................................5

Lesson Plans ............................................................................................................................7

Standards .................................................................................................................................13

References................................................................................................................................15

Appendix: Class Materials ..................................................................................................16


USS Hornet Museum Education Department 1

Goals

Students interact with moving and still air in a variety of ways, exploring its fluid

properties at room temperature. Students explore flow, pressure, the weight of a

gas, action and reaction, and Bernoulli effects using simple materials and

activities. Students use engineering methods to respond to challenges, and often

take home their creations. Students reflect on their design solutions, and on the

properties of air, in closing conversations.

Big Questions

What does it mean to fly?

What is air? How do we know air is there? (Day 1)

Why does air hold some things up? (Days 2-3)

How is air like water?

How can we move air? How does air move? (Days 4-5)

Why are wings shaped like that?

How can we use air to fly? (Day 6)



Big Ideas

Air is Stuff. Air may be invisible, but it is made of matter -- 'stuff' that takes up

space. It’s not infinitely compressible, and it’s hard to remove all the air from

something.

Air Has Weight. A big stack of air, like the atmosphere, is pulled down by gravity,

and pushes on everything it touches. We feel this push as pressure. Air is

surprisingly heavy!

Air is Fluid. Air moves like water, pushes in all directions on everything it

touches, and sticks to itself and other things. Areas of moving air can form

vortices, flow in currents, or break up in turbulence.

When You Push Air, It Pushes You. Every action – like pushing on the air – has a

reaction: the air pushes back. Mechanical energy transfers to, from, and through

air in characteristic ways.

Fast-Moving Air Pushes Less. When air gets moving, it spreads out, and uses its

energy to move faster rather than to push out on things around it. This Bernoulli

effect creates strange phenomena: as air flows faster, it exerts less pressure within

its flow.

We Can Use Air to Fly! Whether you think of it as action-reaction, or the

Bernoulli effect, a moving object can use the air to lift itself. The shape of a wing,

or airfoil, changes how well this works. When the angle of attack or angle of

incidence changes, the wing interacts with the air in different ways: it can create

negative, positive, or zero lift, or cause a stall as turbulent flow increases behind

the wing.



Objectives

a. Ss can depict and describe air as a substance, occupying space, having mass,

and exerting force. Ss can use evidence from observations to support their

claims.

b. Ss can depict or describe air’s motion as a fluid: flowing like water, displaying

adhesion and cohesion. They can describe and suggest explanations for air’s

movements, incorporating ideas of weight, pressure, temperature, viscosity,

inertia, and adhesion. [Note: specific vocabulary terms are not part of the

assessment.]

c. Ss can manipulate air with tools, and alter their tools to affect the behavior of

the air. Ss can depict or describe the interaction of the tool and the air.

d. Ss can ask questions about Bernoulli effect phenomena, create and evaluate

possible explanations, and design imaginary devices that might use the effect.

e. Ss can build flying objects, observe their flight, and alter them to fly

differently. Ss can model, via depiction or description, how their flying object

interacts with the air.

f. Ss can compare different flying objects, and create explanations of how their

structures cause the differences in their behavior.

g. Ss can perform multiple tests on flying objects to assess the effect of

individual changes to a design, and compare their results to find design

strengths and weaknesses.



Anatomy of a Day

(Note: Tuesday program will begin at 3:10 and end at 4:10 PM.)

2:50 PM School lets out.

Instructor (T) must set up for the session: move furniture, put aside

or work around materials left behind, set up materials for session,

test any technology to be used, prepare boards with Big Questions

and Big Ideas.

POSSIBLY T will also collect the day-care students from wherever

they are gathered, then walk them back to class.

3:00 After-school class session begins.

Start of class. T welcomes students at the door, ask them to sit

down at a preselected table or desks.

Take attendance.

3:05 “Spark” demo or simple activity. AKA “the hook.” Something to get

people talking, thinking, and invested in the agenda. Follow up

with discussion, such as a pair share (talk to your partner for 30

seconds about ____; ask your partner ____) and/or group

brainstorm (Ss call out, T writes on board)

3:15 Activities – the meat of the day. A half hour isn’t much time, so

things have to move quickly. Setting things up in advance is key;

transitions need to be quick. If Ss are having a great time on

something, and T can’t get to everything planned…no big deal.

Learning is happening.

3:45 Cleanup.



3:50 Reflection/closing. Ss respond (in writing, verbally, or by drawing)

to a prompt. Prompt should be written on board and spoken

aloud by T, and Ss should respond on sticky notes, to be stuck to a

poster as a visible record of the day’s learning.

3:55 Ss look at others’ responses and help to decorate the poster with

project examples etc.

4:00 Parents sign Ss out and goodbye!

POSSIBLY T will need to see all other students out, then walk the

day care students back to their gathering place.

After class Final clean up, pack up materials.



Calendar

September – December 2016

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

Sep

tem

ber

1 2 3

4 5 6 7 8 9 10

11 12 13 14 15 16 17

18 19 20

Nea

21 22 23 24

25 26 27

Nea

28 29

Lum

30 1

Octo

ber

2 3 4

Nea

5 6

Lum

7 8

9 10 11

Nea

12 13

Lum

14 15

16 17

Otis

18

Nea

19 20

Lum

21 22

23 24

Otis

25

Nea

26 27

Lum

28 29

30 31 1 2 3

Lum

4 5



Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

No

vem

ber

6 7

Otis

8 9 10 11 12

13 14

Otis

15 16 17 18 19

20 21 22 23 24 25 26

27 28 29 30 1 2 3

Decem

ber

4 5

Otis

6 7 8 9 10

11 12

Otis

13 14 15 16 17

18 19 20 21 22 23 24

25 26 27 28 29 30 31

Site and Program Information

Mondays: Otis Elementary School, grades 1-3, room 221, 3:00-4:00 PM.

Tuesdays: Nea Elementary School, grades 1-5, room 33, 3:10-4:10 PM. 1900

Third Street.

Thursdays: Lum Elementary School, grades 2-5, pod 3, 3:00-4:00 PM.



Lesson Outlines



Take to the Skies, Day 1

Air is Stuff

Class

Big Idea

Big Questions

What is air? How do we know air is there?

Conceptual Takeaways

Air may be invisible, but it is made of matter – 'stuff' that takes up

space.

(5th graders: Air is made of tiny particles, and their interaction

makes air behave the way it does.)

(Instructor: Air has volume, and can be compressed into a smaller

volume, or expand to fill a larger volume.)

Session Objectives

Ss can depict and describe air as a substance, occupying space,

having mass, and exerting force. Ss can use evidence from

observations to support their claims.

Assessment

Ss choose a phenomenon that represents “Air Is Stuff” to them,

then justify their choice with observations as evidence.

Ss discuss why they can’t blow the paper wad into the bottle,

forming and comparing explanations.

Ss build and modify a balloon-powered water fountain.

Ss draw a picture from today, including drawing the air.

Materials

Balloons, markers/pencils, easel pad, Sharpies, craft sticks,

paperclips, ribbon, tape, paper, water, trays and plastic sheeting

(if needed), fan or other air mover, plastic bottles (1/student),

tealight candle + base, paperclip hole poker, hot glue guns +

glue rods, straws (bendy), scissors, buckets

Timing Instructor Does Students Do



Well in

advance

10m before

class begins

2m before

class begins

0:00-0:05

0:05-0:15

Prepare the materials, print printouts,

organize everything for quick

deployment. Poke hot-paperclip holes

about 1/3 of the way up each of the

bottles, and enlarge using an unloaded

hot-glue gun until a small straw fits

inside.

Arrive, unpack, set up. Choose a space,

on a table or the floor, to spread the

tarp for water activities. Choose where

Ss will sit when they arrive. Start the fan

with ribbons attached at the place

where students will gather. Prep the

station rotation challenges. Lay out craft

materials on a side table.

Welcome students, ask them to sit

down and wait to touch the materials.

Wait for attention, then introduce

yourself. Briefly say, “Welcome to Take

to the Skies. I have a question for you:

What do you know about air?” Listen to

the answers, repeat them back or

restate them. Nothing is correct or

incorrect now; we want to know who

the students are, how they feel socially

with each other and with you, and

where their understanding of the

content is. Chat!

Take attendance.

Ask students to choose a balloon, blow

it up, write their name on it, and

decorate it however they like. Offer the

air mattress pump to Ss if they have

trouble inflating their balloons.

Blow up your own balloon and show

how to wrap + pinch it shut with a craft

Ss begin to enter, and

sit down.

Ss offer opinions on

the air.

Ss give their names.

Ss choose a balloon

and write/draw their

names. Then they blow

up their balloons, and

clothespin them

closed.



0:15-0:25

{3 min}

0:25-0:35

0:35-0:45

stick and paper clip.

Ask: “What’s in your balloon? What’s in

this room? What’s in your lungs? How

do you know that the air is there?”

Show Ss the stations, and ask them to

join a partner to examine them. Ask:

“Where is the air? What is the air doing?

What do you see happening? Why do

you think it’s happening?”

Time and announce transitions. (1.5

minutes: Go to the other station if you

haven’t seen it yet!. 30 seconds: 30

seconds remaining!)

a. Try to inflate a balloon in a

bottle

b. Try to blow a paper wad into a

bottle

Ask Ss to pair share for 30 seconds

each: Say 3 observations you made that

let you know the air is there.

Ask for volunteers to explain their

answers to the group.

Show Ss an incomplete water bottle

fountain: a plastic bottle, uncapped,

with a straw inserted and hot-glued

into a hole in its side, partially full of

water. Why doesn’t it run out of the

straw?

Inflate your balloon and put it over the

bottle mouth. What will happen?

Demonstrate the fountain, show the

instructions, then show Ss the materials

to build their own. Ask a S to describe

how to make it.

Ss tour stations with a

partner and describe 3

ways they know that

the air is there.

Ss talk to their partner

about their

observations.

One or two volunteers

explain aloud.

Ss watch, answer.

Ss hypothesize.

Ss observe, listen, reply

– but don’t go for

materials yet.



0:45-0:50

0:50-1:00

1:00

Go over hot glue safety: Don’t touch

the glue for 1 minute after you glue

something. Don’t touch the front of the

glue gun EVER. Always unplug the gun

when you’re done. (For today, T is in

control of hot gluing and paperclip

hole-poking, but it may open up in

future.)

Tell students to begin building (but to

keep the water in their trays, and the

trays on the tarp). Water might be

outside; while building happens inside.

T circulates, asking questions about

devices.

Bring Ss together for cleanup. Tell them

to pour out their projects and put them

in one place. Then orchestrate cleanup.

Ask Ss to sit down together. Hand out

sticky notes and markers. Ask Ss to

draw a picture of the air.

Ask willing Ss to share their diagrams

aloud.

Dismiss Ss if room is clean and time is

up.

Ss listen and respond.

Ss build, test, discuss,

and alter their

fountains.

Ss clean up.

Ss sit, listen, and

write/draw.

Ss post all their sticky

notes to a poster

labeled “DAY 1: AIR IS

STUFF.”

Ss take home their

fountains.




Air Has Weight

Class

Big Idea

Big Questions

Why does air hold some things up?


A big stack of air, like the atmosphere, is pulled down by gravity,

and pushes on everything it touches, in all directions. We feel this

push as pressure. Air is surprisingly heavy! Gas balloons and hot

air balloons float because they are lighter than the air they

displace.

Session Objectives

Ss can depict and describe air as a substance, occupying space,

having mass, and exerting force. Ss can use evidence from

observations to support their claims.

Assessment

Ss build hot-air balloons and adjust them to fly higher or longer.

Ss make predictions and propose explanations for phenomena,

discussing the role of atmospheric pressure.

Ss draw something that uses air and describe how the air moves

within it, and the role of atmospheric pressure in the system.

Materials

Cups, cards, easel paper, buckets, water, towels, paper towels,

meterstick, balloons, tape, string, air column poster, hardboiled

eggs or small balloons, straws, wide-mouth bottle, matches,

paper napkin or newspaper, plastic shopping or trash bags,

paperclips, markers, blowdryer, sticky notes




Well in

advance

10m before

class begins

2m before

class begins

0:00-0:05

0:05-0:15

0:15-0:25

0:25-0:35



deployment.



tarp for water activities. Lay out craft




Take attendance.

Cover a cup of water with a card. Flip it

and remove your hand – the card stays

up!

Tell Ss to try it themselves, with

different containers.

Draw a chart: Card Stays On/Card Falls

Off. Ask Ss to describe what they did or

used to make the card stay on, and

what caused the card to fall off. Write

what they say.

Divide Ss into two or three teams. Relay

race to fill a cup with water from a

bucket – using only upside-down cups.

Ss aren’t allowed to walk unless the

cups are inverted.

Does Air Have Weight? Use a meterstick

to balance two empty balloons. Fill one

up, and reattach it – which side is

heavier? Do this as a class group.

Point out poster: the mile of air sitting

on top of all of us, pressing down. Can

you feel it?

Ss begin to enter, and

sit down.

Ss try it themselves

(choose from a variety

of cups, including cups

with holes in them,

beakers with lips, etc).

Ss respond.

Ss plan strategy, and

run the race.

Ss assist in holding

meterstick, measuring,

predicting what will

happen.



0:35-0:45

0:45-0:50

0:50-1:00

Demo: Shell-less hard-boiled egg (or

water-filled balloon about egg size) +

bottle + match + bit of folded

newspaper = sucked inside! Why?

To get the egg out of the bottle, tilt the

bottle, insert straw, blow air.

Build and fly hot-air balloons made of

shopping bags. Use paperclips to

weight down the open end, tie the

closed end together to make a dome

shape, decorate the outsides, use a

blowdryer to create hot air.

Cleanup.

Reflection circle. Ask Ss to draw

something they know from their lives

that uses air pressure, and tell about

how it works.

Ss watch, discuss and

propose explanations.

Ss build, test, assess,

alter balloons.

Ss clean up.

Ss sit, listen, and

write/draw.

Ss post all their sticky

notes to a poster

labeled “DAY 2: AIR

HAS WEIGHT.”




Air is Fluid.

Class

Big Idea

Big Questions


How is air like water? (Days 4-5)


Air moves like water, pushes in all directions on everything

it touches, and sticks to itself and other things. Areas of

moving air can form vortices, flow in currents, or break up in

turbulence.

Session Objectives

h. Ss can depict or describe air’s motion as a fluid: flowing

like water, displaying adhesion and cohesion. They can

describe and suggest explanations for air’s movements,

incorporating ideas of weight, pressure, temperature,

viscosity, inertia, and adhesion. [Note: specific

vocabulary terms are not part of the assessment.]

i. Ss can manipulate air with tools, and alter their tools to

affect the behavior of the air. Ss can depict or describe

the interaction of the tool and the air.

Assessment Ss describe and discuss air entrainment.

Ss build and modify devices to better entrain air.



Materials

Plastic bottles, water, buckets, ceramic mug, foam cups, tape,

rubber bands, balloons, plastic bags, oatmeal cans/coffee cans,

scissors, Xacto knife, markers, dry ice for demos, gloves, paper

targets, sticky notes, easel pad, pens/pencils


Well in

advance

10m before

class begins

2m before

class begins

0:00-0:05

0:05-0:15

0:15-0:20

0:20-0:45

0:45-0:50

0:50-1:00



deployment.







Take attendance.

Ask: How is air like water?

Have you ever poured water out of a

cup, and it runs down the side and gets

all over you? (Demo: do it, using a

ceramic mug)

Demo: Pour water across the side of a

cylinder, showing how the stream

bends around the curve. Ask for

predictions, then repeat around a

square bottle. How does the stream

behave?

Hand out Styrofoam cups and demo

Ss discuss and

respond.



airfoils, show Ss how to use them to

bend an air stream.

Discuss: Why do air and water move like

that around objects? (Surface of the cup

‘grabs’ nearest layer of fluid particles,

traveling particles carry momentum

between adjacent streams of fluid)

Hand out another cup each, tape,

rubber bands. Demo build of foam

spinner: two cups joined by the small

ends with tape. Ask Ss to build their

own. Help with launching tips (Ss can

simply throw their spinners if rubber

bands are too hard).

Challenge: Inflate a long plastic bag

with your breath. (tip: Blow one big puff

into the open end from a few inches

away)

Build vortex cannons from containers,

balloons/latex gloves, rubber

bands/tape. Cut a hole in the closed

end, cover the open end with the

rubber, secure with bands or tape. Set

up paper targets to shoot down.

Cleanup.

Reflection: See/Think/Wonder. Ss fill

out three sticky notes: “What I See,”

“What I Think,” “What I Wonder”.




When You Push Air, It Pushes You.

Class

Big Idea

Big Questions

What does it mean to fly?

Why are wings shaped like that?


Every action – like pushing on the air – has a reaction: the air

pushes back. Mechanical energy transfers to, from, and

through air in characteristic ways. More air pushed into one

place pushes more strongly – its pressure increases.

Session Objectives

j. Ss can build flying objects, observe their flight, and alter

them to fly differently. Ss can model, via depiction or

description, how their flying object interacts with the air.

k. Ss can compare different flying objects, and create

explanations of how their structures cause the

differences in their behavior.

l. Ss can perform multiple tests on flying objects to assess

the effect of individual changes to a design, and

compare their results to find design strengths and

weaknesses.

Assessment

Ss contrast things that fly and things that don’t.

Ss evaluate accuracy and hang time of rocket designs, and

alter.

Ss describe what they changed and what the result was.

Materials

Easel pad, markers, Fly/Don’t Fly card sets, smoothie straws, small

straws, earplugs, tape, paper (squares, strips, sheets), Hoopster

demo/directions, pens/pencils




Well in

advance

10m before

class begins

2m before

class begins

0:00-0:05

0:05-0:15

0:15-0:20

0:20-0:45

0:45-0:50

0:50-1:00



deployment.







Pass out Fly/Don’t Fly cards and ask

student groups to sort them into two

sets: things that fly, and things that

don’t.

Ask Ss to complete the sentences with

lots of ideas. Write the ideas on the

chart.

Pass out big straws, small straws, and

earplugs. Can you make the big straw

fly? (shove earplug into the big straw,

blow through the little straw into the

big one)

Brainstorm: How can we make the

straws fly farther?

Add wings: Provide paper squares,

strips, tape.

Challenge: Use paper strips to create a

Hoopster with ring-shaped “wings.”

Compare its flight to your straw rocket.

Set up launch course with a starting line

and two targets. Challenge: Land your

planes on both targets, or get as much



distance as possible.

Cleanup.

Reflection: Think of a way you changed

your rocket today. Draw a before and

after on two stickies, then describe how

you changed it and what the effect was

on its flight.




Fast-Moving Air Pushes Less.

Class

Big Idea

Big Questions



When air gets moving, it spreads out, and uses its energy to

move faster rather than to push out on things around it.

This Bernoulli effect creates strange phenomena: as air flows

faster, it exerts less pressure within its flow.

Session Objectives

m. Ss can ask questions about Bernoulli effect phenomena,

create and evaluate possible explanations, and design

imaginary devices that might use the effect.

Assessment

Ss predict and describe Bernoulli phenomena and talk

about potential explanations.

Ss connect/extend/challenge day’s ideas.

Materials

Blow dryer, ping-pong balls, paper strips, paper sheets, cups,

straws, spools/funnels/blocks with drilled holes, pushpins, index

cards, balloons, string, tape, water, CDs or paper plates, Xacto

knife, scissors, hot glue, balloons, plastic bottle caps.




Well in

advance

10m before

class begins

2m before

class begins

0:00-0:05

0:05-0:15

0:15-0:20

0:20-0:45

0:45-0:50

0:50-1:00



deployment.







Take attendance.

Demo: blow dryer levitates ping-pong

ball.

Hand out paper strips and sheets; lead

Ss in strip levitation, tent blow-through.

“What happens when you…” “What do

you think will happen if…” “Try to…”

Station Rotation: Work in partner

teams: Predict first, then do, then

discuss what happened. Next, Ss in

pairs cycle through stations.

a. Ping-pong ball cup jump: Two

cups, 1 ball in nearer cup; blow

across its top and it’ll jump to

the other cup! (tip: blow sharply;

use short airplane-meal cups)

b. Fool the Spool/Ping-pong ball in

funnel; Hold a card against the

bottom of the spool (with a

pushpin stuck through the card

to keep it centered on the hole).

Blow down through the spool

and the card sticks to the

underside!

c. Balloon blow-between: Hang

two balloons from strings. Blow

between them and they pull



together!

d. Straw sprayer: Blow through a

straw across the top of another

straw stuck in a cup of water,

and spray water across the

table! (small cup, short straw in

cup)

Discuss: What did you see? What

happens when air moves fast?

Build: CD or plate hovercraft. Poke

some holes in a bottle cap, hot-glue the

bottle cap to a CD hole, pull a balloon

over it, and release!

Reflection: Connect/Extend/Challenge.

On one sticky, write about something

you know or remember that today’s

work reminded you of. On sticky #2,

write something that added something

new to your thinking. On #3, write a

challenge you still have.




We Can Use Air to Fly!

Class

Big Idea

Big Questions

How can we use air to fly? What can we do with air?

(Day 6)

Session Objectives

n. Ss can build flying objects, observe their flight, and alter

them to fly differently. Ss can model, via depiction or

description, how their flying object interacts with the air.

o. Ss can compare different flying objects, and create

explanations of how their structures cause the

differences in their behavior.

p. Ss can perform multiple tests on flying objects to assess

the effect of individual changes to a design, and

compare their results to find design strengths and

weaknesses.


Whether you describe it as action-reaction, the Bernoulli

effect, or vortex flow, a moving object can use the air to lift

itself. The shape of a wing, or airfoil, changes how well this

works. When the angle of attack or angle of incidence

changes, the wing interacts with the air in different ways: it

can create negative, positive, or zero lift, or cause a stall as

turbulent flow increases behind the wing.

Assessment

Students compare performance between plane designs and/or

after changing control surfaces.

Stickies show aircraft and describe at least one of:

action/reaction, pressure differential, air entrainment.



Materials Paper, whirligig template, sled kite template, paperclips, scissors,

straws, tape, plastic shopping bags/mini trash bags


Well in

advance

10m before

class begins

2m before

class begins

0:00-0:05

0:05-0:15

0:15-0:20

0:20-0:45

0:45-0:50

0:50-1:00



deployment.







Take attendance.

Challenge: This paper falls too fast!

How can we change its shape to

slow it down?

Hand out paper and give 3 minutes

to create the slowest-falling paper

possible. Scissors, tape, paperclips.

Build: Whirligigs, from template and

freehand.

Ask what happens when you change

the angles of the whirligigs’ wings,



add more paperclips, make them

bigger, etc.

Build: Sled kite.

Test different numbers and

placements of tails, speed of flight,

etc.

Cleanup.

Reflection (sticky note 1): Draw an

aircraft, and describe how it stays in

the air. (sticky note 2) Draw or write

one thing you remember from this

whole course!



Standards

From the Next Generation Science Standards

Grade

2 Structure and Properties of Matter

Students who demonstrate understanding can:

2-PS1-2. Analyze data obtained from testing different materials to

determine which materials have the properties that are best suited for an

intended purpose.* [Clarification Statement: Examples of properties could include, strength,

flexibility, hardness, texture, and absorbency.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment of quantitative

measurements is limited to length.]

K-2 Engineering Design


K-2-ETS1-2. Develop a simple sketch, drawing, or physical model to

illustrate how the shape of an object helps it function as needed to solve

a given problem.

K-2-ETS1-3. Analyze data from tests of two objects designed to solve the

same problem to compare the strengths and weaknesses of how each

performs.

3 Forces and Interactions


3-PS2-1. Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence of the

effects of balanced and unbalanced forces on the motion of an object. [Clarification Statement: Examples could include an unbalanced force on one side of a ball can make it start

moving; and, balanced forces pushing on a box from both sides will not produce any motion at all.]

[Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to one variable at a time: number, size, or direction of forces.

Assessment does not include quantitative force size, only qualitative and relative. Assessment is limited to

gravity being addressed as a force that pulls objects down.]

5 Structure and Properties of Matter




5-PS1-1. Develop a model to describe that matter is made of particles too

small to be seen. [Clarification Statement: Examples of evidence could include adding air to expand a

basketball, compressing air in a syringe, dissolving sugar in water, and evaporating salt water.] [Assessment

Boundary: Assessment does not include the atomic-scale mechanism of evaporation and condensation or

defining the unseen particles.]

3-5 Engineering Design


3-5-ETS1-2. Generate and compare multiple possible solutions to a

problem based on how well each is likely to meet the criteria and

constraints of the problem.

3-5-ETS1-3. Plan and carry out fair tests in which variables are controlled

and failure points are considered to identify aspects of a model or

prototype that can be improved.



References

Social media icons via https://codepen.io/ruandre/pen/howFi

Water bottle fountain. http://www.learnwithplayathome.com/2012/07/science-

for-kids-water-bottle-fountain.html

How Things Fly http://howthingsfly.si.edu/ Smithsonian Air and Space Museum

https://airandspace.si.edu/sites/default/files/howthingsfly.pdf

A Physical Description of Flight, Revisited. Eberhardt, Scott and Anderson, David.

http://www.allstar.fiu.edu/aero/Flightrevisited.pdf

How Airplanes Fly: A Physical Description of Lift.

http://www.allstar.fiu.edu/aero/airflylvl3.htm

NASA’s Aeronautics Educators Guide.

http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/topnav/materials/listbytype/Aerona

utics.html

NASA’s Beginners’ Guides. https://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-

12/airplane/index.html

USNA STEM Center for Education and Outreach. https://www.usna.edu/STEM/

K/F Airfoil Paper Plane.

http://hilaroad.com/camp/projects/paperplane/paperplane.html

Vortex generators. http://www.eskimo.com/%7Ebillb/amateur/vortgen.html#links

and http://www.physicscentral.com/experiment/physicsathome/cannon.cfm

Egg in a bottle. http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/lab/experiments/egg-in-

bottle/ http://www.weatherwizkids.com/experiments-egg-bottle.htm

Physics demos.

http://physics.wfu.edu/demolabs/demos/avimov/bychptr/chptr4_matter.htm

https://codepen.io/ruandre/pen/howFi

http://www.learnwithplayathome.com/2012/07/science-for-kids-water-bottle-fountain.html

http://www.learnwithplayathome.com/2012/07/science-for-kids-water-bottle-fountain.html

http://howthingsfly.si.edu/

https://airandspace.si.edu/sites/default/files/howthingsfly.pdf

http://www.allstar.fiu.edu/aero/Flightrevisited.pdf

http://www.allstar.fiu.edu/aero/airflylvl3.htm

http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/topnav/materials/listbytype/Aeronautics.html

http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/topnav/materials/listbytype/Aeronautics.html

https://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/index.html

https://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/index.html

https://www.usna.edu/STEM/

http://hilaroad.com/camp/projects/paperplane/paperplane.html

http://www.eskimo.com/~billb/amateur/vortgen.html#links

http://www.physicscentral.com/experiment/physicsathome/cannon.cfm

http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/lab/experiments/egg-in-bottle/

http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/lab/experiments/egg-in-bottle/

http://www.weatherwizkids.com/experiments-egg-bottle.htm

http://physics.wfu.edu/demolabs/demos/avimov/bychptr/chptr4_matter.htm



Coanda effect, not Bernoulli. http://www.aerodynamiclift.com/

http://www.aerodynamiclift.com/



Appendix: Class Materials



Day 1

Personal Balloons

Station Rotation: Air is Stuff?

Lying on Air

Ribbon Fan

Blowdryer Waves

Pneumatic Syringes

Bottling Paper Challenge

Balloon-in-a-Bottle Challenge

Day 2

Upside-Down Cups

Balloon Balance

Air Pressure Poster

Straw-Cup Relay

Day 3

Bending Water/Bending Air

Foam Cup Backspinner

Yogurt Cup Air Gun



Day 4

Paper Copters

Soda Fountain

Fizzy Pop Rockets

Day 5

Station Rotation: Bernoulli Effects

Tent Collapse

Strip Levitation

Ping-Pong Cup Jump

Fool the Spool

Balloon Blow-Between

Straw + Ping-Pong Levitation

Straw Sprayer

Day 6

Foam Gliders

Hoopster

Airfoil Posters

Airfoiler

take to the skies

Documents