Studying airplane wing design and its affect on how well a paper airplane will fly makes an interesting science project for middle school children. This paper airplane project introduces students to recording and graphing variables, calculating the area of rectangles and triangles, predicting results and the basics of the aviation alphabet.
Create more than one paper airplane using rectangular pieces of paper such as plain 8.5 x 11 inch printer paper. For example, fold one in half lengthwise and crease. Unfold, and then fold down the two top corners to meet the middle crease. Fold down the two corners again to the center crease. Lay the airplane on its side and fold down a wing section and crease. You can make your fold starting anywhere near the tip or nose of the plane or start farther back for a different style. Wing style and size should be different on every plane so that each can be analyzed for distance and time of flight.
2
Unfold the wings and determine the area of the wing. The area of a rectangle is calculated by multiplying the length times the width. If your wing is triangular, the area is determined by measuring the length of the longest side of the triangle--which would be where the wing attaches to the body--divide that length by two, then multiply the result by the height of the triangle--measured from the tip of the wing to the center of the longest side of the triangle. Record the measurements of each airplane for future reference.
3
Fly each airplane five times indoors in a gym or long hallway and record distance travelled and how long the airplanes remain in the air.
4
Create two graphs with the data collected. One chart should display how long the airplane stayed in the air versus its wing area and the other graph should relate how far the airplanes travelled versus their wing area.
5
Review the graphs to make predictions regarding the affect an increase or decrease in wing size might have on distance or time aloft.
Tips & Warnings
Give each paper airplane a name using the Aviation Alphabet to make the project more interesting. According to members.eaa.org, this alphabet is used to identify aircraft when communicating with air traffic controllers.
Have all students stand out of the line of flight while flying airplanes as these pointed projectiles can cause harm if they strike someone in the eye.
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