In this activity, students learn how to make an aerofoil and to make and fly paper planes. In the process, they learn about aerofoil wing shape (found on planes and birds) and experiment with flying paper planes using angle of attack and nose weight.
By the end of this activity, students should be able to:
- understand what an aerofoil is and how it works
- have some understanding of angle of attack
- have some understanding of the effects of wing shape and size, angle of attack and nose weight on flight (using paper planes).
Download the Word file (see link below) for:
- introduction/background notes
- what you need
- what to do
- student worksheets.
Useful link
Grab and throw game – simulating throwing a paper plane with helpful tips to learn the techniques (note that this is in Flash so will not play in all browsers).
