Paper Airplane Project

We recently wrapped up our airplane project, listening to the findings of each of the groups. We discovered a lot about what factors make the airplanes fly farther.

What effect would paper clips have on the plane?

They discovered: One paper clip in the front seems to make a plane fly farther. Lots of paper clips all over the plane made it flip over and fall straight to the ground.

Can different materials make the plane go farther?

They discovered: Construction paper airplanes can go farther than sandpaper airplanes.

Can different materials make the plane go farther?

They discovered: If the plane is regular, it flies well. If you put toothpaste and glue on it and throw it gently, it will go much faster and farther.

Which designs fly the farthest?

 

 

They discovered: If the airplane has cuts in it, it seems to fly farther because the wings don't get damaged as much. If it has more cuts and folds, it will just fall to the ground.

Can different materials make the plane go farther?

They discovered: The sandpaper was heavier than the construction paper and copy paper so those two flew more smoothly and farther than the sandpaper. We think the weight caused a shorter flight.

Will a plane fly farther if we throw it up VS down?

 

They discovered: Throwing the paper down the stairs was better than throwing it up the stairs. When we threw it down, it flew all the way out to the parking lot.

Can different materials make the plane go farther?

They discovered: The sandpaper plane didn't fly very well. There was a tie between the copy paper and the construction paper, like the other group found.

In most cases, our predictions were incorrect. The airplanes didn't behave the way we expected. We found that the planes that fly the farthest:

• are made from lighter paper.
• have cuts in the design.
• have more weight in the front.
• have balanced, slightly heavier wings.

Here are a couple of websites and videos we looked at together that your child may want to check out again at home:
http://paperplane.org/
 

https://www.thepaperairplaneguy.com/site/



And a few others you may find interesting...
http://www.amazingpaperairplanes.com/
http://www.paperairplanes.co.uk/planes.php 
http://www.origami-kids.com/