hypothesis for paper airplane distance

Distance Experiment

If you want to find the paper airplane that flies the furthest, you'll need to experiment with different designs and carefully select your paper. let's figure out how to do this., table of contents.

One of the most common questions that people have about paper airplanes, is "Which one flies the furthest?" There is no definitive answer to this question because there are many variables that affect the outcome. For example, an adult throwing hard against the wind and a child throwing gently indoors are two very different scenarios and the paper airplane that flies the furthest may not be the same in both cases.

The next section will outline some of the variables that affect flight, and the rest of this article will teach you how to experiment to figure out which paper airplanes fly the furthest for your particular scenario.

Variables that Affect Paper Airplanes

There are many variables that affect how paper airplanes fly. Some of these can be intuitively understood, but some may require experimentation to reach a conclusion. Keep in mind that each paper airplane design is different and may require different variables to maximize it's performance.

• Paper Size - Does a large or small airplane fly further?
• Paper Thickness - Does the thickness of the paper matter?
• Height of Throw - An airplane thrown from higher up will likely go further.
• Strength of Throw - An airplane thrown harder may go further, unless you throw it too hard and make the wings deform.
• Angle of Throw - What is the optimum angle to throw the airplane? Straight ahead, 30°, 45°, or something else?
• Wind - Throwing with the wind may help and against the wind may hurt. Throwing at an angle to the wind may make your airplane tip or turn.
• Center of Mass - Do you want the center of mass to be towards the front or the rear?
• Symmetry - Accurate folds improve symmetry. How much does symmetry affect the performance?
• Crisp Folds - Do crisp folds work better than gentle folds?
• Altitude - Places with higher elevation have lower air pressure. Does this make a difference?

Paper Airplane Distance Experiment

When you are conducting an experiment like this, it's important to alter only one variable at a time while keeping the other variables unchanged. For example, if you want to determine the best angle at which to throw the airplane, you wouldn't want to have two different people throwing the airplanes, because at the end of the experiment you wouldn't know if it was the angle or the person throwing the airplane that made the difference. Eliminating all of the other variables can sometimes be difficult. We recommending using a large indoor area because this is a reliable way to eliminate wind as a variable.

Before you start your experiment, it's a good idea to come up with a hypothesis. This is a guess or prediction about what you think is going to happen. For example, if you are experimenting with the angle of throw, you might make the hypothesis that throwing the paper airplane at 45° is the optimum angle for maximizing distance. Your experiment will then prove or disprove your hypothesis.

You'll also need a way to measure large distances. A tape measure will work. You can also use a piece of string with knots or marks at regular intervals.

Now it's time to throw some paper airplanes! For whichever variable you are experimenting with, you should pick a few different values. Throw your paper airplanes multiple times at each value to get a range of distances that you can average. For example, if you are experimenting with the angle of throw, you could try throwing straight ahead (0°), slightly angled up (20°), more angled (45°), and at a steep angle (70°). We recommend taking at least five measurements for each different value.

Remember to carefully write down all of your measurements so you can analyze and graph it latter.

Analyzing Your Results

It's time to analyze the data and test your hypothesis. A nice way to do this is with a chart. Get a piece of graph paper and draw a blank chart with an x and y axis. The x-axis (horizontal) is going to be different values for the variable that you are experimenting with. The y-axis (vertical) is going to be the distance that each paper airplane flew. Mark each data point with a dot on the graph. For example, if a paper airplane was thrown at 20° and flew 40 feet, you would move along the x-axis to the 20° mark and then move up the y-axis to the 40 mark and draw your dot. Your graph may something like this. You can average the results for each value and draw a trend line.

If you collect more data, you can get a better picture of the trend. Collecting more data can mean making more throws at each point. This will make the average trend line more accurate. You can also collect more data by adding more values along the x-axis to test. Try some extreme values or try values in between two other values that have a big difference. This will increase the resolution of your graph.

If your graph looks like the one above, what conclusions can you make? It would appear that the values towards the middle performed better than the ones at the extremes. This means, that if you want to throw a paper airplane the furthest, you should use the middle value.

What if your graph had looked like the one below? This graph seems to show that there wasn't much difference in the distance that the airplane flew. The variable that you experimented with doesn't matter, at least in the way that you tested it. Maybe it would make a difference in another scenario.

Do your results confirm or disprove your hypothesis? If they confirm your prediction, then congratulations, you have an intuitive understanding of how that variable affects paper airplanes. If your results disprove your hypothesis, that's great! You just learned something new! Sometimes the best scientific experiments are the ones that have unexpected results.

There are many factors that can contribute to different results. If the experiment were repeated with different conditions, you could compare the results and perhaps reach a different conclusion and learn something else.

Each airplane design has unique aerodynamic properties. A different style of airplane may produce totally different results. You could repeat this experiment with a few different designs and see if you reach the same conclusion.

Congratulations! You just completed a paper airplane experiment!

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Last Modified: May 23, 2022 by Tara Gerner 5 Comments

Paper Airplane Science - An Experiment Designed and Tested by Your Kids

Paper Airplane Science

During my undergraduate education at Penn State, I learned that students learn best when they are in the driver's seat - when they are figuring out what to study, when they are designing the study, when they are identifying the problem and creating the experiment. This is not usually feasible in a public school setting, but in a homeschool, why not? It makes perfect sense.

In this experiment, the student is in control. After you teach her about the scientific method, give her the printable from this scientific method post or the printable below (they are basically the same, but the one below includes some follow up questions), and let her go.

If she has never had to design her own experiment before, your student may need help in coming up with her own hypothesis and experiment steps. If it's an unfamiliar process because you've always done recipe-style science before, she will need some hand-holding. 

Teaching the scientific method using the paper airplane lab (click here for printable lab)

Here are the basic steps with some tips:

• What airplane design will fly the furthest?
• What kind of material will help my paper airplane fly the furthest?
• What effect does weight have on a paper airplane?
• What kind of paper airplane will fly in a loop?
• Research the question. I personally wouldn't have your student look into other experiments and their results or try to answer their question, but I would have her research different paper airplane designs if that is a variable in her experiment. (Note - if her question is something like the last one above, she may have to do some research to find airplane designs that are supposed to make loops.)
• I think the (design name) airplane will fly the furthest.
• I think the airplane made of cardstock will fly furthest, and the airplane made of newspaper will fly the shortest.
• I think the lightest airplane will fly the furthest.
• I think the (design name) will fly in a loop.
• Create an experiment to test the hypothesis. Remind your student that she should do at least 3 trials for each step of her plan. Also, to avoid unnecessary error, she should make a concerted attempt to throw the airplane in exactly the same way each time. That is, throw it in the same place (inside or outside - careful of the wind), in the same conditions (wind or ceiling fan), and with the same strength (results wouldn't be valid if she threw one hard and one gently).
• Observe and analyze the results. Hypotheses that reference distance flown lend themselves very nicely to creating bar graphs. Graphing is an important mathy skill that is used frequently in science, so if you have the opportunity, do it! Look for patterns here - what defines flying the best? What do the results mean?
• If you did this experiment again, would you get the same results? Why or why not?
• Will someone else who follows your procedure get the same data? Why or why not?
• Besides weight, what factors affect the flight of a paper airplane?
• How else could you have designed the experiment to test this hypothesis?
• Which variables could you manipulate? Which were fixed?
• Did your data support or disprove the hypothesis? Explain.
• Why did we fly paper airplanes? (In other words, what did you learn from this activity?)
• Report your findings. I probably wouldn't ask my homeschooled kids to write a lab report (although, if they were in high school, it might be a useful skill in prepping for college), but I would certainly ask them to tell their dad over dinner all about the experiment. They designed it, created the hypothesis, and tested it all on their own, so they will probably be excited about talking it up. Plus, who doesn't like paper airplanes?

I love this paper airplane lab, and I did it with every new class I taught, always during the first week so that the kids could see some ownership of their scientific process and also so they could see how much fun science can be. Will you try it out at the beginning of the new school year?

Check out more cool STEM activities in the STEM index !

Reader interactions, leave a reply cancel reply.

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Stephe Lubin says

September 09, 2018 at 10:07 am

I like the activity but really hate the political correctness. The proper pronouns when speaking of boys and girls is him.

Tara Ziegmont says

September 09, 2018 at 10:12 am

You do things your way, and I'll do them mine. I have only daughters, so when I think of a student, I think of HER.

shannon says

September 10, 2019 at 7:38 pm

I appreciate your pronouns and your lesson! Thank you. Using your idea to teach my 5th graders about the Scientific Method.

October 13, 2021 at 12:51 am

Wow what if someday your daughters identify as something other than her.

As a teacher I think it is our responsibility to be inclusive of all students and that means not using boys and girls any more.

Times are a changing.

missy susan smith says

July 12, 2022 at 1:29 pm

oh my gosh- the woman has a daughter, leave her alone. there are much bigger problems in this world than if she says she or he, the hate shown on here is one of them. leave her alone

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Soaring Science: Test Paper Planes with Different Drag

An aerodynamic activity from Science Buddies

• By Science Buddies  on  February 28, 2013

Key concepts Aerodynamics Planes Forces Drag Physics

Introduction Have you ever wondered what makes a paper plane fly? Some paper planes clearly fly better than others. But why is this? One factor is the kind of design used to build the plane. In this activity you'll get to build a paper plane and change its basic design to see how this affects its flight. There's a lot of cool science in this activity, such as how forces act on a plane so it can fly. So get ready to start folding!

Background The forces that allow a paper plane to fly are the same ones that apply to real airplanes. A force is something that pushes or pulls on something else. When you throw a paper plane in the air, you are giving the plane a push to move forward. That push is a type of force called thrust. While the plane is flying forward, air moving over and under the wings is providing an upward lift force on the plane. At the same time, air pushing back against the plane is slowing it down, creating a drag force. The weight of the paper plane also affects its flight, as gravity pulls it down toward Earth. All of these forces (thrust, lift, drag and gravity) affect how well a given paper plane's voyage goes. In this activity you will increase how much drag a paper plane experiences and see if this changes how far the plane flies.

Materials • Sheet of paper • Ruler • Scissors • Large open area in which to fly a paper plane, such as a long hallway, school gym or basketball court. If you're flying your paper plane outside, such as in a field, try to do it when there isn't any wind. • Something to make at least a one-foot-long line, such as a long string, another ruler, masking tape, rocks or sticks. • Paper clips (optional)

Preparation • Make a standard, "dart" design paper airplane (for instructions, go to the Amazing Paper Airplanes Web page ). • Fold your paper into the basic dart paper plane. Fold carefully and make your folds as sharp as possible, such as by running a thumbnail or a ruler along each fold to crease it. Do not bend up the tailing edge of the wings (step 6 of the online folding instructions). • Go to a large open area and, using string, a ruler, masking tape, rocks or sticks, make a line in front of you that's at least one foot long, going from left to right. This will be the starting line from which you'll fly the paper plane.

Procedure • Place your toe on the line you prepared and throw the paper plane. Did it fly very far? • Throw the plane at least four more times. Each time before you throw the plane, make sure it is still in good condition (that the folds and points are still sharp). When you toss it, place your toe on the line and try to launch the plane with a similar amount of force, including gripping it at the same spot. Did it go about the same distance each time? • Once you have a good idea of about how far your plane typically flies, change the plane’s shape to increase how much drag it experiences. To do this, cut slits that are about one inch long right where either wing meets the middle ridge. Fold up the cut section on both wings so that each now has a one-inch-wide section at the end of the wing that is folded up, at about a 90-degree angle from the rest of the wing. • Throw your modified paper plane at least five more times, just as you did before. How far does the paper plane fly now compared with before? Why do you think this is, and what does it have to do with drag? • Extra: Make paper planes that are different sizes and compare how well they fly. Do bigger planes fly farther? • Extra: Try making paper planes out of different types of paper, such as printer paper, construction paper and newspaper. Use the same design for each. Does one type of paper seem to work best for making paper planes? Does one type work the worst? • Extra: Some people like to add paper clips to their paper planes to make them fly better. Try adding a paper clip (or multiple paper clips) to different parts of your paper plane (such as the front, back, middle or wings) and then flying it. How does this affect the plane's flight? Does adding paper clips somewhere make its flight better or much worse? Observations and results Did the original plane fly the farthest? Did the plane with increased drag fly a much shorter distance?

As a paper plane moves through the air, the air pushes against the plane, slowing it down. This force is called drag. To think about drag, imagine you are in a moving car and you put your hand out the window. The force of the air pushing your hand back as you move forward is drag, also sometimes referred to as air resistance. In this activity you increased how much drag acted on the paper plane by making a one-inch-high vertical strip on both wings. For example, this is what happens when you're in a moving car with your hand out the window and you change its position from horizontal to vertical. When your hand is held out vertically, it catches a greater amount of air and experiences a greater drag than when it is horizontal. You could probably feel this, as your hand would be more forcefully pushed back as the car moves forward. This is what happened to the modified plane—it experienced a greater amount of drag, which pushed it back more than the original plane. This experiment has clearly demonstrated that altering how just one force acts on a paper plane can dramatically change how well it flies.

Cleanup Recycle the paper plane when you are done with it.

More to explore Dynamics of Flight: Forces of Flight , from NASA What Makes Paper Airplanes Fly? , from Scholastic Forces of Flight—Drag , from The Franklin Institute How Far Will It Fly? Build and Test Various Paper Planes , from Science Buddies

This activity brought to you in partnership with  Science Buddies

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Paper Airplane Experiment

Kids love doing science instead of just reading about it. The PAPER AIRPLANE EXPERIMENT is perfectly paired with the study of the scientific method or even the history of flight! This experiment is inexpensive, accessible, and doesn’t make a mess! 

Paper airplanes are always a hit around my house! So, when creating an experiment for us to conduct that would allow the boys to practice the scientific method, this was a no-brainer! Our posing question was:

• Does the type of paper you use for a paper airplane change how far it will fly?

Don’t you appreciate an easy materials list! I do. All you will need is:

• Construction Paper
• Notebook Paper
• Computer Paper
• Printed out Lab Sheet

Paper Airplane Experiment Lab Sheets

The Paper Airplane Experiment Lab Sheets will guide you and your student through this fun hands-on scientific investigation. Walk through the experiment step-by-step using the 3-page student lab sheets . I didn’t forget about you teaching mommas (and dads), the teacher’s cheat sheet is also included in the download.  DOWNLOAD HERE . 

After collecting our materials and cutting our different types of paper to the right size, the boys made their airplanes. Now, one of my sons wanted to use his own design while another wanted me to print out the  Classic Dart design . Our favorite paper airplane book of all time is Klutz Book of Paper Airplanes Craft kit.

Once we had the airplanes ready to go, we sat, talked, and the boys answered the questions on their lab sheet. Each of them formed his hypothesis and as a group we discussed the variables in the experiment. If your student needs a review of variables, watch  The Scientific Method slideshow .

EXPERIMENT TIME!!! This is the fun part! It was a beautiful spring day. The only issue we ran into was a little wind. One of our airplanes flew backwards! All in the name of science! There are ten trials in this experiment, so your student will be flying his or her airplanes 10 times each and after each trial, record their data.  

After testing hypotheses, the boys shared their data and findings with each other. We all sat and discussed their results. I led them through a discussion about manipulated variables and if they could think of ways to improve the design of the experiment. In the end, we all had fun and I think they learned something too, which is always nice at the end of a school day. Happy learning!

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In Flight With Paper Airplanes

An exploration with elementary engineering

Supplemental Resources

Amelia Earhart background info

• Five most important words
• Paper airplanes

Science and Children—February 2020 (Volume 57, Issue 6)

By Laura Katchmark, Elisabeth McCabe, Kristen Matthews, and Michele Koomen

Share Download PDF Supplemental Resources Start a Discussion

What better way to engage fifth-grade students in science and engineering practices than to use paper airplanes to encourage them to question, explore, create, and test designs! This multi-day unit draws from a fourth-grade curriculum (Pearson 2012) aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards ( NGSS Lead States 2013 ) used in teacher education methods classes and taught to grade 5 students. In this article, we share an integrated unit that includes reading selections about Amelia Earhart and the forces involved in paper airplane flight, an overview of how we used paper airplanes in an experimental design process, and how we helped students develop conclusions based on the claims, evidence, and reasoning framework (CER; McNeill and Krajcik 2012 ).

Introduction

Our 45-minute introduction lesson is designed to acquaint students with the principles of engineering, gravity, and the design process. We started by asking students what they know about paper airplanes and flight, using a Know, Wonder, Learn (KWL) chart. Some student notes revealed they knew that airplanes were made from a sheet of paper, needed wings to fly, needed someone to throw them, and can travel far. They wondered about gravity, how to prevent a paper airplane from making loops, and airplane size and weight.

Next, we asked students to think about the work of an engineer (e.g., What does an engineer do?). We discussed how an engineer might design, develop, and test new products. Any product, like smartphones, computers, washing machines, and even classroom furniture, had to be engineered and tested. To understand how much of our world is “engineered” and to incorporate movement, we took a “silent” engineering walk through the school to look for engineered items. Students recorded examples they observed on a sticky note that later we transferred to a class list ( Figure 1 ). Once we regathered everyone, we focused our discussion on how each example was part of an engineering process of trial, test, and redesign.

Next, we told students that we would explore the design process of engineering by making paper airplanes. We used a shared reading to develop concepts about the forces that would be involved in the flight of a paper airplane (see Supplemental Resources). Before we started the reading, we had students work with a partner on a word sort, a vocabulary strategy that allow students to develop relationships among words and reasoning skills of classification and deduction ( Zygouris-Coe 2015 ). Partners sorted the words into groups related to parts of the airplane ( Figure 2 ). As the shared reading proceeded, we stopped to discuss some of the key concepts (lift, drag, gravity, and thrust) and uncover the meaning of words unfamiliar to students. We emphasized how paper airplanes fly down as a result of gravity.

Conducting the Mini-Investigation

Students really looked forward to the day that we would begin the actual scientific and engineering study ( Pauley, Weege, and Koomen et al. 2016 )! We started this 45-minute lesson with an overview of the main goals of the unit: to make and test a control paper airplane, to make another paper airplane with one change (a testable variable), and see how that flight compared to the control. In this lesson, we introduced the students to the mini-investigation sheet that they would eventually complete (see Supplemental Resources).

We modeled how to make a basic dart airplane and talked about safety and handling of the paper airplanes. We outlined behavioral expectations and classroom management techniques, including how to throw the airplanes safely in the air and not at each other, the importance of throwing paper airplanes one at a time, and using safety googles during the flight. In our class, students worked together in small groups (of three or four students) where each group made one paper airplane; however, individual students could each make one and then as a group choose the one that they thought might perform better. We spent some time talking with students about how this first paper airplane would be their control and how they would measure the distance travelled over three trials. A control is important in science and engineering investigations because it offers the investigator the opportunity to compare across variables. We found it was very important to give students time to “pilot” throwing their airplane in a consistent manner. By doing this, we were able to have the students actually model what worked and what didn’t versus us just telling them. For example, some student groups figured out and then demonstrated to the class how to get the most accurate measurement by laying metersticks end to end or throwing the plane with the arm and plane at a right angle to the floor. We instructed the students on how to make a data table on the back sheet of the mini-investigation ( Figure 3 ) and to collect both qualitative data (observations of flight behavior) and quantitative data (measurement of distance travelled) that we used as formative assessment. We concluded this part of the unit by having students jot down a few notes again on that first page of the mini-investigation sheet about how they might modify and improve their plane’s design to increase the distance travelled.

The Design Process

We began the design process lesson (45-minutes) by having the fifth-grade students refer to their mini-investigation sheets to talk together in their groups about some of the modifications and improvements that they might make to increase the distance traveled of the paper airplane. Adding rudders; using different lengths, sizes, or weight of paper (office paper, cardstock, cardboard, or wax paper); or adding weight using paper clips or clay are some of the variable design modifications students have tested. After the students talked for a bit in their groups, we found it helpful to pull the students together as a whole group to share some of the ideas that were emerging about a possible design change using prompts such as: What worked well with the first model? What didn’t? What changes can be made to yield different results or Why do you think a particular change will produce those results?

After the group discussion, the students continued working on their mini-investigation sheets within their small groups to craft a research question, form hypotheses, and lay out their plan. Students used the question frame ( How does _____ affect ____?) to develop their research question. For example, Molly’s group question was “How does material affect distance?” We taught the students to identify multiple hypotheses or the possible outcomes of their investigation ( Pauley, Weege, and Koomen 2016 ). We talked about how important it is to identify a null hypothesis or the possibility that there will be no effect between the variables. In Molly’s group, there are three possible outcomes:

H 1 : The control will travel the farthest.

H 2 : The cardboard plane will travel the farthest.

H O : The material will not affect distance.

Once the groups decided on their one design modification to test, they completed the mini-investigation sheet, with an eye to being consistent with the first set of trials with the control (i.e., same position for the launch and same person). We wrapped up this part of the unit by asking each group to share the variable they decided to test, which also served as a formative assessment.

Design Modifications and Testing

The next sequence of this unit allowed students time to construct their group’s modified airplane within a 45-minute lesson. We found it helpful for students to first review their mini investigation sheet and to keep in mind that they were testing the independent variable (the design modification that they will be comparing to the control). Next, each group constructed the new plane with its variable modification. The students tested their new design by running three trials as they did earlier in the unit, collecting both qualitative and quantitative data. We found that students need ample time to work and inquire to ensure accurate and comparable results. At the end of this part of the unit, student groups should have completed all three trials.

Working with paper airplanes sounds unthreatening; however, there are some things to take into account when teaching this unit.

Students should wear safety goggles when they are testing the airplanes in flight.

Use adequate spaces to encourage safety for all students (i.e., hallways, extra rooms, classroom).

Outline expectations for throwing airplanes (i.e., one person in the group throws one plane at a time down the runway; paper airplanes are not thrown at or over people).

Analysis and Conclusion

The final leg of this unit is where the students compare the experimental data against the control data, focusing on the analyze/interpret and conclude/report sections of the mini investigation sheet. To do this, students need to review the data tables from each of the two tests. As they review their data, we guide them with questions such as: “What do you notice about your two sets of data? How are they similar? How are they different? What patterns do you see?” (see Supplemental Resources). Students write down the answers to these questions in the analyze and interpret section of their planning sheet. For example, Jorge and his group noticed a pattern in distance traveled when using different-size paper for their planes: “The size of the paper can affect the distance it travels.”

Next, the students identify the claim that was supported by their evidence and circle it on their mini-investigations sheet. To communicate their conclusion, we use the claims, evidence, and reasoning (CER) sentence frames modified by Julie Jackson and colleagues (2016) based on the research of McNeill and Krajcik (2012) .

I claim ________ (claim: what the student knows/answers to a question or solution to a problem) because ___________ (evidence or data that support one of your hypotheses). I know I am right because ______ (reasoning: scientific concept, rule, or principle) ( Jackson, et al. 2016 , p. 65).

CER can be a little complicated for fifth graders, so we model how to use the frames. For example, Ellery and her fifth-grade group, wrote “I claim that my re-designed paper airplane is faster than my control because after three trials it went farther than my control by an average of 37 cm (supporting hypothesis 2). I know I am right because my re-designed paper airplane weighed less than my control which had less of a pull of gravity” (see NSTA Connection ).

Ellery tied the outcome of her group’s investigation to one of the key disciplinary core ideas of the unit: gravity. These written conclusions became part of our summative assessment using our rubric (see Supplemental Resources). To conclude, we returned to the KWL chart and asked students to reflect on what they had learned through the activities about paper airplanes and what makes them fly. The various colors of the sticky notes represent each stage of the KWL process.

Amelia Earhart

Engineering is a field with one of the worst gender gaps in all of the sciences ( Kanny, Sax, and Riggers-Piehl 2014 ). This unit creates an opportunity to address this disparity by highlighting the work of the pioneer aviator and champion of women’s rights: Amelia Earhart. Amelia Earhart was an American aviator who was the first woman to solo fly a plane across the Atlantic Ocean. She broke many records for airplane travel during her lifetime. Amelia disappeared in the South Pacific Ocean in July 1937 while trying to fly her plane named Electra around the world with her navigator Fred Noonan. She was declared dead on January 5, 1939.

We include a supplemental reading about Amelia Earhart that provides an overview of her accomplishments. To foster vocabulary development, we recommend using a word sort or the Five Most Important Words strategy ( Zygouris-Coe 2015 ). This strategy promotes deep understanding of words within a text and their context. First, students write down five words in a graphic organizer. Next, they use their own words to define the five selected words. Finally, they explain why the word is important in the reading selection. This strategy invites a student to explain what the words mean and why they are important for his or her understanding.

Reflections on Unit Taught

Drag and Gravity. As a paper airplane moves through the air, it pushes against the air, creating resistance or drag . If you want a paper airplane to fly far, you need to design a paper airplane with as little drag as possible. When we throw paper airplanes, they do not keep flying continuously. Instead, they fall down to the ground because of the force of gravity. Gravity is an invisible force that pulls objects to the center of our planet Earth. Objects with greater mass (like Earth) pull more than objects with less mass (paper airplanes). Keeping the paper airplane’s weight to a minimum will help fight against the pull of gravity.

Thrust and Lift. In this unit, student pilots use their muscles to thrust (forward movement) the paper airplane forward. Lift occurs as a result of the air below the paper airplane wing pushing up more than the air above the wing of the airplane is pushing down. The difference in pressure is actually what makes the paper airplane fly. The forces of thrust and lift help the paper airplane make a longer flight.

When the four forces are balanced they achieve a longer flight. Planes like the basic dart are designed to be thrown with a lot of force so they overcome gravity since they do not usually have a lot of drag or lift.

Versatility and adaptability are strengths of this unit. For example, when Laura was teaching this unit, she had only 25-minute segments to fit in a unit that was designed to span five 45-minute lessons. To maximize class time, she pre-folded the paper airplanes and measured the area of the room set aside for conducting the data collection. Additionally, we found it valuable to have students communicate their findings and conclusions with other groups at the end of the unit. We did this using the jigsaw approach, where students come together in groups, with each group member representing a different primary investigative group. In this way, students are informally modeling sharing of results using their mini-investigation sheets, similar to what scientists do when they share their findings at a conference. For example, Ellery (above) talked about what she learned by redesigning her paper airplane and the role of weight on gravity.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We are grateful for the review of the physics content of the manuscript by Professor Chuck Niederriter at Gustavus Adolphus College. This work was supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation (DR K-12-1417777). Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position or endorsement of the funding agency.

INTERNET RESOURCES

Basic dart  http://www.foldnfly.com/1.html#Basic-Dart

What is gravity?  https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/what-is-gravity/en/

SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS

Further reading about Amelia Earhart

Further reading about paper airplanes

Five Most Important Words

Science and Engineering Practice

Planning and Carrying Out Investigations

Classroom Connection:   Students design and construct an investigation that tests a modified design feature using paper airplanes.

Analyzing and Interpreting Data

Classroom Connection:   Students analyze and interpret data from two different test trials of the paper airplane.

Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions

Classroom Connection:   Students explain in writing their conclusion using the CER sentence frames.

Disciplinary Core Idea

PS2.B: Types of Interactions The gravitational force of Earth acting on an object near Earth’s surface pulls that object toward the planet’s center.

Classroom Connection: Students use evidence from their paper airplane investigation to support their argument that the gravitational force exerted by the Earth on objects is down.

Crosscutting Concept

Classroom Connection: Students identify patterns in their data to support their claims and explanations regarding the best design solution.

Performance Expectation

• The materials, lessons, and activities outlined in the article are just one step toward reaching the performance expectation listed below.

5-PS2-1 . Support an argument that the gravitational force exerted by Earth on objects is directed down.

Jackson J., Durham A., Dowell S., Sockel J., and Boynton I.. 2016. Claims and evidence. Science and Children 54 (4): 64–69.

Kanny M.A., Sax L.J., and Riggers-Piehl T.A.. 2014. Investigating forty years of STEM research: How explanations for the gender gap have evolved over time. Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering 20 (2): 127–148.

McNeill K.L., and Krajcik J.. 2012. Supporting grade 5–8 students in constructing explanations in science: The claim, evidence and reasoning framework for talk and writing . Boston, MA: Pearson.

NGSS Lead States. 2013. Next generation science standards: For states, by states . Washington, DC: National Academies Press

Pauley L., Weege K., and Koomen M. 2016. Native Plants and Seeds, Oh My! Science and Children 53 (9): 32–38.

Zygouris-Coe V.I. 2015. Teaching discipline-specific literacies in grades 6–12: Preparing students for college, career, and workforce demands . New York: Routledge.

Aerospace NGSS Three-Dimensional Learning Elementary

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Paper Airplanes: Why Flaps and Folds Matter

Introduction

• Sheet of paper, standard 8 ½ inch by 11 inch size
• Large open area in which to fly a paper plane, such as a long hallway, school gym, baseball field, or basketball court. If you are flying your paper plane outside, try to do it when there is not any wind.
• Something to make at least a one foot line with, such as a long string, another ruler, masking tape, rocks, or sticks.

Instructions

• Follow the instructions for the Intermediate design to build a paper airplane .

• Go to a large area to fly your paper plane. Make sure that there is no foot or car traffic at the area. A long hallway or your school gym is a good location. If you are flying your plane outside, like in a baseball field or on a basketball court, do your experiment on a day when there is no wind.
• Use a string, a ruler, masking tape, rocks, or sticks, to make a line in front of you that is at least 30 centimeters (cm) (or one foot) long, going from left to right. This will be the starting line from which you will fly the paper plane.
• Place your toe on the line you prepared and practice throwing your paper air plane a couple of times.

What Happened?

Digging deeper.

Paper airplanes are fun and easy to make. Just fold a piece of paper into a simple plane and send it soaring into the sky with a flick of your wrist. Watching it float and glide in the air gives you a very satisfying and happy feeling.

But what allows the paper plane to glide through the air? And why does a paper plane finally land? To find out, we will talk about the science behind flying a paper plane and the different forces that get a paper plane to fly and land. These same forces apply to real airplanes, too. A force is something that pushes or pulls on something else. When you throw a paper plane in the air, you are giving the plane a push to move forward. That push is a type of force called thrust . While the plane is flying forward, air is moving over and under the wings and is providing a force called lift to the plane. If the paper plane has enough thrust and the wings are properly designed, the plane will have a nice long flight.

But there is more than lack of thrust and poor wing design that gets a paper plane to come back to Earth. As a paper plane moves through the air, the air pushes against the plane, slowing it down. This force is called drag . To think about drag, imagine you are in a moving car and you put your hand outside of the window. The force of the air pushing your hand back as you move forward is drag. Finally, the weight of the paper plane affects its flight and brings it to a landing. Weight is the force of Earth's gravity acting on the paper plane. Figure 1 below shows how all four of these forces, thrust, lift, drag, and weight, act upon a paper plane.

A paper airplane in flight will experience an initial thrust forward which begins its flight and lift from air which will help push it upward. These forces are counteracted by drag that acts in the opposite direction as thrust and gravity which will constantly pull the plane towards the ground.

Well, what do you think? Would you like to start experimenting with these forces? In this activity, you increase how much drag a paper plane experiences and see if this changes how far the plane flies. How will adding drag affect your plane's flight? You can answer this question with just a flick of your wrist.

Ask an Expert

For further exploration.

• Make paper planes that are different sizes and compare how well they fly. Do bigger planes fly further?
• Try making paper planes out of different types of paper, such as printer paper, construction paper, and newspaper. Use the same design for each. Does one type of paper seem to work best for making paper planes? Does one type work the worst?
• Some people like to add paperclips to their paper planes to make them fly better. Try adding a paperclip (or multiple paperclips) to different places on your paper plane (such as the front, back, middle, or wings) and then flying it. How does this affect the plane's flight? Does adding paperclips somewhere make the paper plane's flight better, or much worse?

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What is the hypothesis of a paper airplane?

Table of Contents

• 1 What is the hypothesis of a paper airplane?
• 2 What can affect the flight of a paper airplane hypothesis?
• 3 What is the best angle to launch a paper airplane?
• 4 Which paper airplane flies the farthest hypothesis?
• 5 How does length affect a paper airplane?
• 6 Does the length of a paper airplane affect the amount of time it stays in the air?
• 7 What is the science behind Paper Airplanes?
• 8 How does weight affect the size of a paper airplane?
• 9 Why do paper airplanes fly better with dihedral wings?

Hypothesis: The lighter paper airplane will fly the greatest distance because lighter material seems to stay in the air longer than heavier material.

What can affect the flight of a paper airplane hypothesis?

The four forces weight, drag, lift, and thrust affect the airplane’s flight. Weight is the force that pushes down on the plane. Weight affects the plane because it pulls the plane down.

How does the design of a paper airplane affect its flight distance?

The aerodynamics of a paper airplane will determine the distance and ease at which it flies. The aerodynamics of the plane will need to have little drag and be light enough to defy gravity. When these four forces are used in balance, paper airplanes will fly longer.

What is the best angle to launch a paper airplane?

For paper airplanes, a 5 degree or 6 degree angle of attack is best. The weight of the whole plane divided by the surface area of the main wing is called the wing loading. A heavy plane with small wings will have a large wing load.

Which paper airplane flies the farthest hypothesis?

Paper aeroplanes are always fun to make and fly. The aim of this research is to work out which design flies the furthest. Hypothesis The plane with the biggest wings will fly the furthest.

Does wing length affect the distance a plane flies hypothesis?

“Yes, wingspan will affect flight, however there will be a point where the size of the wingspan will create too much weight and drag to be effective. For a glider, which a paper airplane is the more lift the glider has the longer it can fly. However, you must keep the weight and drag in check to avoid flight failure.”

How does length affect a paper airplane?

In addition the larger the paper airplane the larger its wings can be. The larger the wings the greater the ability to generate lift. The longer lift is generated the further the paper airplane will glide.

Does the length of a paper airplane affect the amount of time it stays in the air?

What’s the average distance a paper airplane flies?

We measured the distance traveled for each airplane and recorded the data. The wide planes traveled an average distance of 30 feet 2 inches. The long narrow planes traveled an average of 21 feet and 3 inches. The wide planes traveled an average of 9 feet 1 inch farther than the long narrow planes.

What is the science behind Paper Airplanes?

How does weight affect the size of a paper airplane.

How do you calculate the distance that a paper airplane flies?

Why do paper airplanes fly better with dihedral wings?

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Scientists experiment with paper planes to study aerodynamics, flight stability

The properties that make a paper airplane fly have much to tell scientists about aerodynamics and flight stability, according to U.S. National Science Foundation grantee researchers at New York University . They conducted a series of experiments using paper planes to make their conclusions.

The research could influence the development of airborne vehicles like drones. The team's research was published in the Journal of Fluid Mechanics .

"The study started with simple curiosity about what makes a good paper airplane and specifically what is needed for smooth gliding," said Leif Ristroph, an author of the study. "Answering such basic questions ended up being far from child's play. We discovered that the aerodynamics of how paper airplanes keep level flight is very different from the stability of conventional airplanes."

Paper planes rely on gravity and proper design to successfully glide.

"Birds glide and soar in an effortless way, and paper airplanes, when tuned properly, can also glide for long distances," added co-author Jane Wang. "Surprisingly, there has been no good mathematical model for predicting this seemingly simple but subtle gliding flight."

Paper planes appear unassuming in design and composition, "But paper airplanes, while simple to make, involve surprisingly complex aerodynamics," said Ristroph.

The researchers launched paper planes with different centers of mass, observed paper planes descending into a water tank, and used the data to develop a new aerodynamic model and flight simulator that successfully replicates flight motions.

"The key criterion of a successful glider is that the center of mass must be in the 'just right' place," Ristroph said. "Good paper airplanes achieve this with the front edge folded over several times or by an added paper clip, which requires a little trial and error. The location of the aerodynamic force or center of pressure varies with the angle of flight to ensure stability."

The effect the team found in paper airplanes doesn't happen in the traditional airfoils used as aircraft wings, whose center of pressure stays fixed in place across the angles that occur in flight, according to Ristroph. "The shifting of the center of pressure seems to be a unique property of thin, flat wings, and this ends up being the secret to the stable flight of paper airplanes."

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