It's been really busy and have been remiss in updating the blog. We have just concluded a quick end-of-year unit on "flight". We kicked it off by having the kids make kites. They worked in teams of two with one group of three. The kids started by decorating their kites in art class. The designs were fabulous. | |
Then we gave the students written instructions, dowel sticks, packaging tape and scissors and they assembled their kites. We gave them some cursory instructions on how to fly a kite and took them to Haines Point in Washington DC to fly them. The forecast was for rain, but it turned out to be the perfect day to fly kites (8 mph wind).
It was fascinating to watch the kids figure out how to get their kites to fly. They experimented, watched each other, talked to their classmates, etc. Before you know it, everyone got their kites to fly. Everyone enjoyed themselves and felt successful.
It was fascinating to watch the kids figure out how to get their kites to fly. They experimented, watched each other, talked to their classmates, etc. Before you know it, everyone got their kites to fly. Everyone enjoyed themselves and felt successful.
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In our next science class, the students talked about all the things they figured out about how to get a kite to fly and how to keep it flying. They figured out that running helped get the kite flying. If a kite started to lose altitude, they would get tension in the line and walk with it to get it up again. They also figured out that there was more wind at the higher elevations than near the ground. Then we tied what the students figured out about flying kites, to explain the four forces of flight - thrust, lift, drag, and gravity. We also discussed how the same principles applied to airplanes. |
I showed a portion of this video to help the students better understand "lift". | I showed a portion of this video to spur on a conversation about "thrust". |
The students watched a video on "The History of Flight" | |
On Tuesday, May 30th, we went on a field trip to Udvar Hazy where the students learned more about the four forces of flight, how planes maneuver, history of flight and famous people involved in flight. We finished the unit with a round of Kahoot where we reviewed what we learned in this unit along with some new fun facts. | |