Science 6: Aerodynamics & Flight

Visit the Wrights' workshop and to make a plane. After working on your plane, take it to Kitty Hawk and test it.

This 5-minute video describes some of Leonardo da Vinci's most impressive ideas, including the ornithopter and parachute.

Use this animated diagram of the Wright brothers 1903 Flyer to find out how they controlled the plane during the first flight by a "heavier than air" aircraft.

In these activities for grades 6-12, students follow a tutorial to use Scratch to create a side scrolling game in which they pilot a drone through traffic.

A set of student design missions from PBS. Students will learn to design a jet liner and consider budget and fuel efficiency.

Student are challenged to design, build, and test a model plane in a simple wind tunnel.

A fun student flight challenge from PBS. Make a paper airplane with a spoon!

Learn how a quadcopter-type drone can move in all different directions using only propellers that face in the same direction!

This is an interactive site that takes students through through a variety of hangers which contain information and activities about flight.

An interactive exercise that lets students match natural and designed wings to their flight specialty

What makes an airplane fly? How does a spacecraft stay in orbit? Why does a balloon float in the air? What are you waiting for? Come and find out!

This video explains why some popular ideas of flight are incorrect. Listen and watch explanations of two theories of "lift".

Resources to use with your class as they explore aerodynamics. You can bypass the sign-in by clicking an image.

Students use what they know about the 4 forces of flight in this challenge to design, build, and test a model plane in a simple wind tunnel.

Lesson plans and activities from the US Federal Aviation Administration. Featuring stimulating puzzles and hands-on experiments

Students will engage in flight experiments using to determine which materials & shapes are most and least susceptible to lift, weight, drag, and thrust.

Resources to use with your students as they explore the science of flight. You can bypass the sign-in by clicking the image.

Students will learn about motions and forces, and transfer of energy as they explore the basics behind the four forces of flight.

This activity explains the science behind controlling the movement of a quadcopter. Newton’s third law of motion, torque, and the fundamentals of rotary flight are introduced.