Ready for Take-Off!

Take to the skies and explore the thrills of life at 30,000 feet with dynamic, hands-on, flight-based activities. Students pilot hot air balloons, parachutes, gliders, planes, helicopters and rockets, all while examining abstract physics concepts such as energy conservation, buoyancy and the four forces of flight.

Get ready to investigate the history of flight by following in the footsteps of the Wright Brothers, Da Vinci and the aviation experts of the world on a journey to create extraordinary flying machines. In Flight & Aerodynamics, take the yoke and fly into the STEM-setting sun in one of our most thrilling packages!

Flight and Aerodynamics is packed with 12 engaging, one-hour lessons centered around the thrills of aviation. As individual sessions or a sky-high intensive, this program combines the engineering design process, creative thinking, the arts and a collaborative environment as it challenges learners to explore the wonders of flight. Whether students are designing experiments to investigate history’s most iconic flying machines or observing abstract physics concepts like energy conservation and buoyancy, this multi-subject approach to flight investigation provides endless opportunities for students to develop and nurture the foundations of scientific inquiry and their critical thinking skills.

Grades: 4-6
Students: Up to 30
Contact Hours: 12+

Subject Targets:

Physical Science, Engineering Design, Social Studies/History Connections

Recommended Settings:

Each Lesson Includes:

• Schedule
• Opening & Closing Discussion 
• Step-By-Step Activity Instructions
• Topic Background Information & Vocabulary
• Materials List

Curriculum Topics:

1. Introduction to Flight
2. Kites Day
3. How to Get Off the Ground - Hot Air Balloons Day
4. Drag and Weight - Parachutes Day
5. Drag and Lift - Gliders Day
6. Aerodynamics - Paper Airplanes
7. Paper Airplane Design Challenge
8. Thrust and Energy Conservation - Propellers
9. Thrust and Lift - Helicopters Day
10. Pioneers of Aviation
11. Thrust and Energy Conservation
12. Rocket Design Challenge

Reusability:

Refill Kit Available.This product offers affordable consumable refill kits. See the materials tab for details.

Training:

Complete Program Includes:

• Instructor Guide: 1
• Printed Student Pages: 30 sets
• Curriculum Digital Download: 1
• Storage container: 1
• #2 pencils: 24
• Paper clips: 200
• Wooden skewers (12"): 31
• Jumbo paper clips: 100
• Wooden skewers (8"): 31
• Paper plates: 10
• Alka Seltzer tablets: 16
• Pennies: 100
• Balloon helicopters: 10
• Ping pong balls: 15
• Balloons: 50
• Plastic grocery bags: 24
• Corrugated cardboard: 8 sheets
• Assorted rubber bands: 250
• Green construction paper: 50 sheets
• Rubberband balsa planes: 8
• Craft sticks: 100
• Scissors: 16
• Plastic cups (8 oz): 25
• Single hole punches: 4
• Dry erase markers: 16
• Plastic bottles: 8
• Dry erase page pockets: 16
• Yellow duct tape: 2 rolls
• Stopwatches: 8
• Electric kettle: 1
• Plastic bins: 16
• Film canisters: 8
• Straws: 125
• Bottles of glue: 8
• Balls of string: 8
• Hot glue gun and sticks: 1
• Cloth tape measures: 8
• Hairdryer: 1
• Clear tape dispensers: 8
• Index cards: 100
• Rolls masking tape: 2
• Modeling clay (16oz): 1
• Tempera paint: 10 bottles
• Newsprint: 62 sheets
• Tissue paper: 50 ct
• Paintbrushes: 30
• Blank white paper: 500 sheets

Curriculum Digital Download includes: Instructor Guide only, which includes master copies of all student pages.

Refill Kit Available

Looking to use your Flight & Aerodynamics kit with the next group of combat aces? This refill kit will have them airborne in no time flat!

• #2 pencils: 24
• Alka Seltzer tablets: 16
• Balloon helicopters: 10
• Balloons: 50
• Blank white paper: 500 sheets
• Clear tape with dispenser: 8
• Corrugated cardboard: 8 sheets
• Craft sticks: 100
• Duct tape (10 yd): 2 rolls
• Bottles of glue: 8
• Green construction paper: 50 sheets
• Glue gun sticks: 15
• Index cards: 100
• Masking tape (60 yd): 2 rolls
• Newsprint: 62 sheets
• Jumbo paper clips: 100
• Standard paper clips: 200
• Paper plates: 10
• Plastic cups: 25
• Plastic grocery bags: 24
• Rubber bands (¼ lb): 1
• Sponge: 1
• Straws: 125
• String (475’ ball): 8
• Tempera paint (16 oz): 10 bottles
• Tissue paper: 50 ct
• Wood skewers (12”): 31
• Wood skewers (8”): 31
• Sled Kite Templates: 30
• Sets of Drag Shapes Templates: 8
• Hot Air Balloon Templates: 8

Habits of Mind:

16 “thinking habits” developed by Art Costa and Bena Kallick to empower students to succeed in a 21st-century learning environment.

• Applying Past Knowledge to New Situations
• Creating, Imagining, Innovating
• Finding Humor
• Listening with Understanding and Empathy
• Managing Impulsivity
• Persisting
• Questioning and Posing Problems
•  Striving For Accuracy
• Taking Responsible Risks
• Thinking Flexibly
• Thinking Interdependently

21st Century Skills:

A set of widely-applicable abilities essential for success in the information age.

• Communication and Collaboration
• Creativity and Innovation
• Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
• Flexibility and Adaptability
• Initiative and Self-Direction
• Productivity and Accountability
• Social and Cross-Cultural Skills

© 2018 Partnership for 21st Century Learning (P21), p21.org. All Rights Reserved. P21 was not involved in the production of this product and does not endorse it.

Common Core State Standards for Language Arts:

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.4.1.C Pose and respond to specific questions to clarify or follow up on information, and make comments that contribute to the discussion and link to the remarks of others.
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.4.4 Report on a topic or text, tell a story, or recount an experience in an organized manner, using appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details to support main ideas or themes; speak clearly at an understandable pace.

© Copyright 2010. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved.

Next Generation Science Standards:

• NGSS 3-5-ETS1-1: Define a simple design problem, reflecting a need or a want that includes specified criteria for success and constraints on materials, time, or cost.
• NGSS 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.
• NGSS MS-ETS1-1: Define a simple design problem reflecting a need or a want that includes specified criteria for success and constraints on materials, time, or cost.
• NGSS MS-ETS1-2: Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process to determine how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.
• NGSS MS-PS1-4: Develop a model that predicts and describes changes in particle motion, temperature, and state of a pure substance when thermal energy is added or removed.
• NGSS MS-PS1-6: Undertake a design project to construct, test, and modify a device that either releases or absorbs thermal energy through chemical processes.
• NGSS MS-PS2-2: Plan an investigation to provide evidence that the change in an object’s motion depends on the sum of the forces on the object and the mass of the object.
• NGSS MS-PS3-5: Construct, use, and present arguments to support the claim that when the kinetic energy of an object changes, energy is transferred to or from the object.

*NGSS is a registered trademark of Achieve. Neither Achieve nor the lead states and partners that developed the Next Generation Science Standards were involved in the production of this product, and do not endorse it. 

John Allan holds a master’s degree in astronomy from the University of Virginia, and a bachelor’s degree in physics and astronomy from Macalester College. He has pursued research in radio astronomy at ASTRON, the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy, as well as at the University of Virginia and Macalester College. John has taught science and math to students from middle school through college level as a tutor and teaching assistant. He currently lives in Portland, Oregon, where he loves to read science fiction and imagine the future of space travel.

Sarah Goff teaches elementary and middle school music in Portland, Oregon. She holds a master’s degree in teaching music from Oregon State University and a bachelor’s in music from Grinnell College. Her research with Jason Silveira in teacher attitudes toward transgender individuals and supportive school practices was published in the Journal of Research in Music Education in Summer 2016. She enjoys biking to work, where she experiences the effects of drag and streamlining firsthand!

Click links below to view files: 

• Flyer
• Spec Sheet
• Catalogs & Brochures