I started giving paper airplane presentations as a way to teach kids (and adults) about the basics of flight, and I think it has worked well. I think education should be hands-on and fun, and paper airplanes accomplish both. What I didn't expect were the other lessons learned from paper airplanes. The process of following directions teaches an imprtant skill in itself, and rewards patience and persistance. Paper airplanes also provides a launching point for other topics of sciece (fluids, flight in nature, statics and dynamics, ...), history of flight, flight physiology, ...
Naturally I recommend both of my books:
The World Record Paper Airplane Book - Best for ages 10 & up,and
includes:
- Basics of flight
- How to make and throw paper airplanes
- Flying activities indoors and outside, including the basics of soaring
flight
- How to organize and run a contest (a contestis a great way to reinforce
the lessons of how to make and fly paper airplanes).
Kids' Paper Airplane Book - Best for ages 6-12, and Includes:
- Basics of flight
- How to make and throw paper airplanes
- A guide for how to recognise real airplanes at the airport or as
they fly over
- Flying activities indoors and outside, including the basics of soaring
flight
- Paper airplane contests (a contest is a great way to reinforce the
lessons of how to make and fly paper airplanes).
- How to make a paper airplane perform stunts (loops, circles)
*** A TEACHERS GUIDE IS AVAILABLE FOR THE KIDS' PAPER AIRPLANE BOOK ***
A preview (table of contents/intro letter from ME) is HERE.
The entire teachers guide in PDF format is HERE
(requires the free Adobe
Acrobat Reader).
To get your free teachers guide send a request to the publisher:
We have been looking for a national sponsor to help print and distribute these guides nationally - if you know of a company or organization that could help, let me know!
I am also preparing new classroom and student experiments - -here is a presentation I gave at NCASE 2004 (National Congress for AeroSpace Education) experiments_ncase04.ppt Click on link to view, right click and choose "save target" to copy to your computer.
You might also find some useful information in the "your email
answered" link in the left column.
OTHER RESOURCES
National Coalition for Aviation
Education
PO Box 28086
Washington, DC 20038
Note: the web page may be down, but send for their education resouce
guide.
Also at the Smithsonian Institution Air and Space Museum they have a How Things Fly exhibit. Teachers guides available soon from the museum.
Nasa guide to paper airplane designs and educational activities with them HERE