BERNOULLI  FLIES  AGAIN

MASTER TEACHER  Andrea Cantu

GRADES  6 - 8

OVERVIEW
This lesson provides students with an in-depth understanding of  forces and conditions needed for flight.  During the lesson students will design their own paper airplanes, make and fly kites.  The lesson will use video to show how air pressure can create lift as long as there is an angle of attack.

ETV SERIES  
Bill Nye #103 Flight

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Students will be able to:
* differentiate between the four major forces acting on an aircraft.
* explain how air pressure causes lift (Bernoulli's Principle).
* calculate glide ratios.

MATERIALS
Per class:
1 - roll of scotch tape
1 - box of sidewalk chalk or railroad chalk
1 - stop watch 
1 - poster board kite pattern 
4 - large school trash bag (makes 8 kites)
4 - hole punches 
4 - meter sticks 
2 - roll of 500 feet kite string 

Per student:
1 - Flight worksheet 
3 - 8.5 x 11 inch paper 
1/4 - McDonald's straw 
1 - 70cm piece of fishing line 

Per group:
1 - balloon per group of four
1 - dowel rod (1/8 inch) per group of two
1 - empty toilet paper roll per group of two
1 - internet access per group of three 
 

VOCABULARY
Airfoil - curved streamlined cross-sectional shapes of wings that create lift.
Angle of attack - the angle of the front edge of the wing that comes in contact with the wind.
Bernoulli's principle - faster flow of air over the longer upper surface of an airfoil results in reduction of pressure creating lift.
Drag - force that pushes against an airplane and slows it down.
Dynamic pressure - pressure of moving air.
Gravity - force that pulls things toward the center of the earth.
Lift - to raise into the air, upward force.
Thrust - force that pushes an airplane forward.
 
PRE-VIEWING ACTIVITIES
Pass out worksheets to students. (Note that worksheet activities and questions are numbered through out pre-viewing, viewing, and post viewing periods.) Have students make a paper airplane using a sheet of paper.  Students enjoy making and throwing paper airplanes for fun.  Have students test their paper airplane design. Students will record their plane's: weight, wing span, accuracy, distance flown,  time aloft, and glide ratio.  The glide ratio is calculated by dividing the distance flown by the launch height.  Repeat flight two more times and calculate the average of the three flights.
Extensions:  Have students graph the classes distance flown vs. time aloft.  Have students
experiment with different launch heights to see if the glide ratio differs.

FOCUS FOR VIEWING
To give a student a specific responsibility while viewing say, "In this video you are going to see how large objects such as planes and birds can fly.  Watch for the importance of air pressure, lift, and angle of attack."

VIEWING ACTIVITIES
Begin the tape when the word "AIR" in large white letters appears across a partly cloudy sky.  The announcer says, "Bill Nye the Science Guy brought to you by air."   Pause the tape where a girl and a boy wearing lab coats are standing and leaning forward.  They say "Science rules!"  Say, "Answer question 1, what were the three things air pressure does?"  (makes things fly, allows us to breathe, causes the wind to blow.)  2.What is lift? (to raise into the air, upward force.)  3.What is an angle of attack (the angle of the front edge of the wing that comes in contact with the wind)   In this next clip you will be able to answer question number 4, and label the wing's high and low pressure areas and tell where the air travels faster across the wing's surface. Also, look for the answer to question 5, the reasons why planes can fly."  Resume tape. Pause the tape where a 727 is flying on a clear day.  Bill Nye says, "With air moving over wings we can develop differences in air pressure that can be used to create lift." Review the dynamics of the wing.  Have students answer questions 4 (Low pressure is on top of the wing and this is the location where the air passes over the wing at a faster rate.)  and 5 (differences in air pressure).  Say, "A wing is an airfoil.  We will make an airfoil. Listen and watch while I tell you how to make an airfoil.  Don't copy me.  Wait and I will go over the directions again with you.  a) Fold paper lengthwise without creasing.  b) Punch a hole as far as a hole puncher can go along the uncreased edge.  c) Slip the top edge of the paper back so that 1.5cm of paper sticks out from the bottom. d) Insert the 1/4 inch straw through the hole. (The straw will be tilted towards the uncreased fold.) e) Tape the long open edges in three places to secure the angle of the straw.  f) Thread the straw with fishing line.  g) Hold one end of the fishing line in each hand and hold it so that the line is perpendicular to the floor. 
On question 6 on your worksheet, make a hypothesis as to what will happen when you spin.  Will the airfoil remain on top of  your hand?, spin?, or lift?  On number 7 record your observations as to what happens when you spin to the right or spin to the left.   Say, "For the answers to questions 8-10, listen for the two most important subjects for a pilot,  Bernoulli's Principle and  dynamic pressure ." Resume the tape.  Pause the tape when a girl wearing a lab coat stands behind two suspended Ping-Pong balls on a string.  She says, "What do you think will happen?"  Say, "What do you think will happen?  Record answers on 11.  Let's go over what you saw and wrote down for questions 8-10.  8.What subjects do pilots need? (math and science)  9. What is the Bernoulli Principle? (faster flow of air over the longer upper surface of an airfoil results in reduction of pressure there and hence a lifting force is produced)  10. What is dynamic pressure?  (pressure of moving air)  Now we are going to conduct a similar experiment.  Take a sheet of paper and fold it along its width.  Hold the paper with the edges hanging downward.  Blow between the two hanging edges.  In the next segment, you will see and hear why the paper edges or the Ping-Pong balls react the way they did." Resume the tape  where a girl wearing a lab coat is standing.  She says, "Bernoulli, he was on to something, huh?"   Say, "In question 12, write down why the Ping-Pong balls hit
instead of spread apart.  (The fast moving air in between the balls created an area of  low pressure.  The pressure on the outer sides of the balls was higher, and thus the balls were forced to hit.)"  In the next clip you will learn about three famous flyers and about the first man powered plane, the Gossamer Albatross.  Fast forward the tape to where the screen shows a red static picture, audio is static. Record answers to questions 13-17 as you watch this next section.  Resume the tape. Pause the tape when a glider is turning to the right on a television screen.  Bill Nye says, "We're flying!  Woo-hoo!"  Say, "On question 13, what made the Wright brothers famous? (First flight with an engine.)  14. Amerlia Earhart?  (First female to cross the Atlantic) 15. Charles Lindbergh?  (First person to fly alone across the Atlantic)  16. Where are wings tested?  (Wind tunnels)  17. Do airplanes take off with the wind or against the wind?  (Against the wind)"   Say "What aircraft have you seen thus far? (gliders and planes)  Now watch how helicopters fly and record your answer to question 18.  Resume the tape. Pause the tape when two boys are leaning forward saying, "Helicopters!  Science!"   What do helicopters use to fly instead of wings?  (set of rotors)" Listen for the three things Bill Nye says about what causes things to fly.  Resume the tape.  Stop the tape when Bill Nye is sitting in the cockpit of a plane with another man.  Bill says, "See ya."  Review question 19.  Say, "What were the three things that cause things to fly?"   (air has pressure, difference in air pressure - Bernoulli's  Principle, wings need to have an angle of attack to create lift.)  

POST-VIEWING ACTIVITIES
Say, "We saw in the video that the differences of pressure on the wings (Bernoulli's principle) creates lift and that lift continues to occur if there is an angle of attack.  We are going to experiment with Bernoulli's principle by making and flying kites."

Making the kite:
a.  Trace kit pattern onto the trash bag and cut out.
b.  Cut the dowel rod into two 17 - inch pieces.  Place the rods parallel and vertically on the superman emblem shaped kite.  (With the rod placement the kite should be divided into three parts; an outside triangle on both sides of a rectangle.)  Tape each rod in three place; top, middle, and bottom.
c.  Overlap tape on the tips of the triangles and  hole-punch the triangle tip.
d.  Cut two 1 - meter lengths of kite string and tie them through the holes on the kite.
e.  Tie these two strings together at the loose ends, making sure the strings are the SAME
length; otherwise, the kite will not fill with air properly.
f.  Roll 10 meters of kite string on the empty toilet paper roll, and attach the free end of this string to the kite.
g.  Fly the kite.  Observe its flight (question 20).  Add a tail to the kite using leftover trash bag.  Observe its flight (question 21). Say, "The videos stressed that air pressure, lift, and an angle of attack allowed objects to fly.  The following internet search activity will give you more information on aerodynamics and Bernoulli's Principle.  Search the websites to find answer questions to 22-24."

ACTION PLAN
Have pilot give a presentation on flight.
Have a local kite shop give a kite demonstration.
Have students create their own internet scavenger hunt.

EXTENSIONS
Mathematics
Create flight rate problems and glide ratio problems.

Art
Decorate and/or create new kite designs.  Study about Leonardo DeVinci.
 

Social Studies
Have students tell about flight from Amelia Earhart's or Charles Linberg's point of view.
Research the history of flight.  Find out how helicopters changed the war.

Reading
Read about the three famous flyers: Earhart, Lindbergh, and the Wright brothers.
Read the novel Around the World in Eighty Days.
Have students create original riddles or songs about major forces of flight.
 

FLIGHT WORKSHEET
Pre-Viewing Activity:  
Paper Airplane Datasheet  
Plane's Name: ___________________________  
Launch Height: _____m Weight: _______g Wing Span: _______cm
 
   Trail 1  Trial 2  Trial 3
Average
Accuracy____________________________________________________
Distance Flown______________________________________________________
Time Aloft_______________________________________________________
Glide Ratio_______________________________________________________

Viewing Activities:
1. Name three things that air pressure does.
____________________________________, ___________________________________ and __________________________________.
2. Define Lift. ___________________________________________________________
3. Define angle of attack.
___________________________________________________________
4. Label the area of the wing that experiences high pressure (H) and the area that experiences low pressure (L).
 

Where does the air travel faster across the wing's surface? ______________________________
  5. How can planes fly? _________________________________________________________
  6. Airfoil hypothesis.
____________________________________________________________
  7. Airfoil observations.
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
  8. What are the two most important subjects for pilots?________________________________
  9. What is the Bernoulli Principle?
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
10. What is dynamic pressure? ____________________________________________________
11. Ping-Pong ball hypothesis.__________________________________________________
12. Ping-Pong ball observations._________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
13. The Wright brothers were the first to____________________________________________.
14. Amelia Earhart was the first female to___________________________________________.
15. Charles Lindbergh was the first person to_________________________________________.
16. Where are wings tested? ______________________________________________________
17. Do airplanes take off with the wind or against the wind?_____________________________
18. Instead of wings, what do helicopters use to fly?____________________________________
19. Name the three things that cause things to fly. _____________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________

Post Activity:  Kites
20. Observation without a tail on the kite.
__________________________________________________________
21. Observation with a tail on the kite. ______________________________________________ __________________________________________________________

Internet  Search
22. Refer to   wysiwyg://25//http:www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Hangar/6544/.
a) Explain why this site is using the concept of Bernoulli's Principle to explain how
things fly. _________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
b) What is the hump theory? ______________________________________________________
c) Create your own web question. __________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________

23.  Refer to the Aeronautic Terminology website at  http://bhs.edu/wmc/f97dhn/Terms.html 
to answer the following questions.
a) Gravity is a synonym for _______________________________________________________
b) What is the difference between an airship and a blimp._______________________________
c) What is aerodynamics? ________________________________________________________
d) Name the three moveable auxiliary parts of an airfoil mentioned on page 3.  ____________________________________________________________

24. Answer the following questions from the Fundamentals of Aerodynamics web page at
http://www.canelas.com/fundaero.html.
a) What are the four forces of flight?
____________________________________________________________
b) What are the 3 axes of flight?
____________________________________________________________
c) Create your own web question. __________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
 

Updated:  April 01, 2008