Make It Fly
Investigate the forces involved in how planes fly by making some of your own and testing them out!
This activity may be Fiddly
Investigate the forces involved in how planes fly by making some of your own and testing them out!
This activity may be Fiddly
What you'll need
Gather your supplies using the list above.
1.
Take the A4 sheet of paper. Fold it in half, as shown, then unfold it. After that, fold the two top corners in to make a point.
2.
Now fold the edges in again so they meet in the middle from the tip. Once that’s done, fold the plane in half again.
3.
Now fold the diagonal edge down to meet the straight edge on each side, making the wings. Your plane is complete.
4.
Test out your paper plane!
5.
Use the template and the diagram to help you make a paper helicopter, and then drop it to see it spin.
6.
Curl the strips of paper into loops and tape them to each end of a straw to make a glider.
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Can you make your helicopter spin the other way?
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What do you notice if you make the front of the plane heavier?
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Make your own plane design and see if you can make it travel further than the others.
Gravity pulls everything downwards. But as they move towards the ground, the wings of the aeroplane, the wings of the glider and the blades of the helicopter create higher air pressure underneath than on top. This creates a lift force that counteracts some of gravity’s pull and makes them fall more slowly.
Moving through air also creates a kind of friction called air resistance, or ‘drag’, which tends to slow down anything moving through the air.
Real aircraft behave in very similar ways to your glider and paper plane – but they have powerful engines that keep pushing them through the air, so they stay up. Real helicopter blades are pushed around by powerful engines too.
Look out for these designs in nature as well.
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