McKenzie Meyer HC 407, Spring 2017, M 16:00-17:50 June 5, Paper Airplanes

Transcription

1 McKenzie Meyer HC 407, Spring 2017, M 16:00-17:50 June 5, 2017 Paper Airplanes Abstract: As technology is advancing in today s age, more jobs are opening up in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields, and more people are needed in these fields. Along with the need for more workers in these fields, STEM is always expanding on amazing discoveries, and it is just wonderful in general. To make sure that the world fills the needs in these job fields, and to get the public interested in the cool outcomes of the STEM fields, we need to start early with the amazement and wonder of discovery. My project focuses on young kids specifically and gives them a simple activity that they not only have fun completing but also start to learn the basics of STEM and the phenomena that is physics. Using my prior knowledge and expanding on it with designs found from other people, I was able to create my project of a paper airplane building and flying competition for young kids. While the project is geared toward little kids, people of all ages will still enjoy the activity, even though they have already learned the STEM material presented in this project. I believe this project is a good starting place for introducing kids into the STEM field and showing them that even the simplest things in life are incorporated in the STEM field. Background: Multiple projects exist that are created by other people that are used to excite kids of all ages and enable a starting place for an interest in STEM. While some projects are fun and explore concepts unseen by kids, I decided to look at projects that kids have probably completed in the past and then would try to show them the scientific side of these projects. I started looking at paper airplanes and the physics of flight and design for each paper airplane. Most kids have

2 McKenzie Meyer HC 407, Spring 2017, M 16:00-17:50 June 5, 2017 made at least one paper airplane in their lives, but most children do not necessarily understand how they work and why the various designs work differently. I decided to research various different paper airplane designs on the internet, as well as talk to some people around me for designs, and to build and fly them myself to find the best ones that show the different effects of paper airplanes like distance, acrobatics, time in air, etc. Already, with the different designs, kids will learn how to make different looking airplanes, and when they are flown, see the difference in how air resistance and drag works on the different models. The effects of drag and air resistance are two of the STEM concepts that are able to be introduced and explained as kids observe the experiment that is so familiar to them. Additionally, the project has an option to add more weight to the paper airplanes to create an additional teaching opportunity about the force of gravity on a heavier object versus a lighter one. The simple act of flying a paper airplane has so many opportunities to teach kids about science and, since this is a project that, on the surface does not look impressive, the kids will be even more excited to know that these little planes contain so much science. Additionally, I was inspired by the excitement kids have when creating paper airplanes and throwing objects in the air. This activity gets kids moving and lets their creativity shine. Not only is this activity easy to accomplish, it presents opportunities to get competitions going between the kids and the kids can also take their projects home. Finally, not only are kids excited about these ideas, adults I told this project to were excited at just the thought of getting to fly paper airplanes again. Materials and Methods: This project only required a ream of standard A4 (8.5 x11 ) paper, colored markers (or any other coloring materials) to color the planes, and paper clips (for the optional weights). For the kids that already know how to make paper airplanes, there is no other prep needed and they

3 McKenzie Meyer HC 407, Spring 2017, M 16:00-17:50 June 5, 2017 just take the A4 paper, color the paper in any way they want, and fly their plane. However, not everyone knows how to fold paper airplanes so folding templates (found in the appendix) were made to help kids fold their paper airplanes. While there are multiple different ways to fold paper airplanes, I found five different plane designs that can be made with A4 paper and require no cutting with scissors or tape. I folded these five planes myself over and over to get the hang of folding these five designs so I can teach the kids how to fold the planes and help them along in addition to the step-by-step I provided for each plane in the appendix. If the optional competition(s) are desired, a big whiteboard is needed along with white board markers and magnets to keep track of the winners. The categories are written across the top of the board and kids names throughout the day are written along the left side of the board while the magnets are moved around to different winners as the categories obtain new records. The categories of competition are up to the presenter s imagination but some examples are farthest thrown, farthest thrown with weight, coolest design, etc. Results and Discussion: This activity is simple and yet intriguing to young kids. The project is very easy to make with materials found around most households, and very easy to perform and clean up. While I only included five airplane designs in my project, other people, when performing this project, may come up with different designs to include. This project can also be adapted to have only one focus with the planes such as farthest distance thrown, or can combine multiple like distance, design, weight distribution, etc. When looking at the five different planes I have included, the physics of each one is different and makes each of them fly with their own style. With plane 1, it is the classic model most kids are taught to build, and is the basis for other paper airplanes. Plane 2, with its heavier nose/front end, tends to dive farther and faster due to their being more

4 McKenzie Meyer HC 407, Spring 2017, M 16:00-17:50 June 5, 2017 mass at the front of the plane for the gravitational force from the Earth to pull down. Plane 2 has about the same width as plane 1 therefore the two have similar air resistance which causes them to act similarly in the horizontal direction of motion. Like plane 2, plane 3 has a heavy front end that causes it to dive faster due to gravity, however, it is thinner than plane 1 and plane 2 resulting in less air resistance and more motion in the horizontal direction. With less force pushing against the plane in the horizontal direction, plane 3 can fly farther in that dimension. Plane 4 has very even weight distribution for a paper airplane, causing a steady, even force of gravity pulling on it and makes the plane s descent look more like plane 1 s. While plane 4 is wider, the folds on the top of the plane direct the air away from the body of the plane making it easier to combat air resistance and move faster in the horizontal direction. Plane 5 is the thinnest plane, making it the most aerodynamic and able to combat air resistance easily for its horizontal direction movement. Modeled similarly to plane 1, plane 5 acts the same in the vertical direction with even weight distribution and steady descent. All five planes presented here had a different aspect to them physically which made their flights distinct. Additionally, adding the paper clips as weight to each of these planes just adds more vertical force down due to more mass with a higher gravitational force, making the descents faster. After presenting the project to a few kids, they had fun throwing paper airplanes and designing them, while being intrigued with the phenomena of adding more weight with the paper clips and overall enjoyed the project. Acknowledgements: I acknowledge my professor, Travis Walker, of my class, Exploring the Magic of Engineering Physics, for the help and inspiration with this project, along with the excitement brought to teaching kids about STEM. I also acknowledge the Honors College at Oregon State University for creating this class and the opportunities presented within the curriculum.

5 McKenzie Meyer HC 407, Spring 2017, M 16:00-17:50 June 5, 2017 Plane 1

6 Steps for Plane 1 1 : 1. With the fold line side of the paper facing up, fold down, towards you, lines 1 and Flip the plane over, so the fold lines are facing down, and fold along lines 3 and 4, bringing the paper towards you. 3. With the fold lines still facing down, fold line 5 towards you. 4. Fold the plane in half along line Flip the plane to one side and fold down line 7 and out and away from the main body of the plane, repeating with line 8 on the other side. These should look like your wings. 6. Looking at your plane from the top, fold in lines 9 and 10 in towards the center of the plane Paper Craft. BigActivities. Web. 15 May 2017.

7 3 Plane 2

8 Steps for Plane 2 2 : 1. Orient the template with the UP arrow at the top of the page. Then, flip the paper over onto its backside, so that you cannot see any of the fold lines. 2. Pull the top right corner down toward you until fold line 1 is visible and crease along the dotted line. Repeat with the top left corner. 3. Fold the right side over again and crease along fold line 2. Repeat with the left side. 4. Fold the tip down toward you and crease along fold line Now, flip the paper over. Then, fold the left side over onto the right side and crease along fold line 4 so that the outside edges of the wings line up. 6. Fold the wings down along fold lines 5. Partially open the folds you just created so that the wings stick out straight. 2 Arrow. N.p.: Kevin Bailey, PDF.

9 Plane 3 3 3

10 Steps for Plane 3 3 : 1. Orient the template with the UP arrow at the top of the page. Then, flip the paper over onto its backside, so that you cannot see any of the fold lines. 2. Pull the top right corner down toward you until fold line 1 is visible and crease along the dotted line. Repeat with the top left corner. 3. Fold the top point down toward you until fold line 2 is visible and crease along the dotted line. 4. Fold the top left and top right corners down and toward you and crease along fold lines Fold the tip up and over the two diagonal folds along fold line 4 to secure them in place. 6. Flip the plane over and fold the right side over onto the left side as shown along fold line 5 so that the outside edges of the wings line up. Also make sure the diagonal folds do not become untucked from the tip you folded up in the previous step. 7. Fold the wings down along fold lines 6 and the winglets up along fold lines 7. Add wing dihedral by tilting the wings up slightly away from the fuselage. The wings will have a slight V shape when viewed from the front. 3 Classic Dart. N.p.: Kevin Bailey, PDF.

11 U P Plane 4

12 Steps for Plane 4 4 : 1. Orient the template so that the UP arrow is at the top of the page. Then flip the paper over so that none of the fold lines are showing. 2. Fold the top left corner down toward you until fold line 1 becomes visible. Crease along the dotted line and repeat with the top right corner. 3. Fold the nose down until fold line 2 becomes visible and crease along the dotted line. 4. Fold the outside wing edges in and crease along fold lines Fold the right half of crease along fold line the wings line up. the plane over the left half and 4 so that the outside edges of 6. Fold the wings down along fold lines 5 and the winglets up along fold lines 6. Add wing dihedral by tilting the wings up slightly away from the fuselage. The wings will have a slight V shape when viewed from the front. 4 Condor. N.p.: Kevin Bailey, PDF.

13 Plane U P

14 Steps for Plane 5 5 : 1. Orient the template so that the UP arrow is at the top of the page. Then flip the paper over so that none of the fold lines are showing. 2. Fold the top left corner down toward you until fold line 1 becomes visible. Crease along the dotted line and repeat with the top right corner. 3. Fold the left side over again and crease along fold line 2. Repeat with the right side. 4. Fold the left side over once again and crease along fold line 3. Repeat with the right side. Make sure that you are making firm, crisp creases along each fold line. 5. Fold the tip of the nose down toward you along the fold line. 6. Fold the right half of the plane over onto the left half along fold line 4 so that the outside edges of the wings line up. Again, make a firm crease along this fold. 7. Fold the wings down along fold lines 5 and the winglets up along fold lines 6. Add wing dihedral by tilting the wings up slightly away from the fuselage. The wings will have a slight V shape when viewed from the front. You are ready to fly! 5 Bullet. N.p.: Kevin Bailey, PDF.