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Grade 6 Understanding Structures and Mechanisms:

Flight

LEGEND:

 

 Individual Activity

 

Group Activity 

 

Demonstration

 

Outdoor Activity

Build Your Own Plane

Don't be afraid to use this activity as your "minds-on" for the unit. It is good to let your students play around prior to diving into the concepts associated with it. Allowing them the time to create their own planes will give you a chance to assess what they already understand about flight and will give them the chance to investigate and ask questions. 

 

Start with a simple paper airplane design. Have your students compete to see who can build the plane which goes the farthest. Circulate around the room to see how they are deciding to build their planes, offer suggestions and ask questions. This is the time for your students to explore! 

 

At the end of the unit, once student have learned the properties of air and flight, repeat this activity. This time, have students work in groups and give them more materials to work with. Have them write a paragraph explaining which properties of flight and air their plane uses and redo the competition. You will find that the second time around, the planes will go farther, giving your students a sense of accomplishment. 

 

Expectations Addressed: 2.4, 2.5, 2.6

Scaffold This Activity

Offer paper airplane templates to students who require additional assistance. Once they have built a successful airplane, challenge them to build another without the template.

 

This will build their confidence and lead them to exploring outside the template. 

What's Your Wingspan? 

As a quick minds-on activity, have your students determine their wingspan. Have them hold string from fingertip to fingertip and cut the length of this string. Students can compare their wingspans to those of common birds. 

 

Show your students two pieces of string: one cut to show the wingspan of a hummingbird and another cut to show the wingspan of an albatross. How can two bids with such different wingspans both achieve flight? Use this question to launch your students into an inquiry on animals and their various adaptations for flight. 

 

Expectations Addressed: 2.3, 2.5, 2.6

Experimenting with Balloons

In order to understand flight, your students must understand the basic principles of air. There are many experiments that you can do to show them these principles. Here are some examples of demonstrations and experiments you can do with your students using simple party balloons. 

 

Expectations Addressed: 3.1 

Does air have mass?

Perform an experiment such as the one depicted in the video below. Have students predict what will happen when the two balloons are tied to the ruler. Why does this happen? 

 

You can also lead this demonstration as a guided investigation, in which your students set up the experiment and determine the results. 

To show students that air can expand and shrink, perform the following experiment: 

 

  1. Blow up a balloon and place it in the freezer to cool it down.* Blow up a balloon of the same size and leave it out at room temperature. 

  2. Show your students the balloon that was left out at room temperature and ask them "What do you think would happen to the balloon if I put it in the freezer?" Have students discuss in small groups and write the predictions on the board. 

  3. Bring out the balloon that was placed in the cold; as cold causes air to shrink, the balloon will have shrunk in size. Ask your students "Why do you think the balloon shrunk in size when it was in the freezer?" and "What is inside the balloon that could have shrunk?" 

  4. The balloon will re-expand once it is in the warmer air. Ask your students to explain why the balloon expanded. 

 

*Note: if you do not have access to a freezer at your school, you can perform this experiment at home and create a video recording of the results. You can then show this to your students. 

What happens to a cold balloon? 

What happens when you sit on a balloon? 

This is an activity best done outside, as it is a noisy one! This experiment shows your students what happens when air is compressed. 

 

Give each student a blown-up balloon and have them all sit on their balloons. If students do not feel comfortable doing this, they can choose to pair up and have only one partner do the experiment. 

 

Have your students try to explain what happens to the balloon when you sit on it and why. What force are you applying when you sit on the balloon? What happens to the air inside the balloon when you sit on it? Why does it pop? This activity is fun and sure to get some laughs! 

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