Aeronautics

An Educator's Guide with Activities in Science, Mathematics, and Technology Education

National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Educational Product for Educators, Grades 2–4
EG-2002-06-105-HQ

Aeronautics—An Educator's Guide with Activities in Science, Mathematics, and Technology Education is available electronically through NASA Spacelink, one of the agency's online resources built for teachers and students. This guide and other NASA education materials can be found at: http://spacelink.nasa.gov/products

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What pilot, astronaut, or aeronautical engineer didn't start out with a toy glider?

This publication is in the public domain and is not protected by copyright. No permission is required to copy or distribute it.

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Table of Contents

• Acknowledgments
• Preface / How to Use This Guide
• Matrices: Science Standards, Mathematics Standards, Science Process Skills
• Aerospace Technology Enterprise
• Aeronautics Background for Educators

Activities

Air

• Air Engines
• Dunked Napkin
• Paper Bag Mask
• Wind in Your Socks
• Air: Interdisciplinary Learning Activities

Flight

• Bag Balloons
• Sled Kite
• Right Flight
• Delta Wing Glider
• Rotor Motor
• Flight: Interdisciplinary Learning Activities

We Can Fly, You and I

• Making Time Fly
• Where Is North? The Compass Can Tell Us
• Let's Build a Table Top Airport
• Plan to Fly There
• We Can Fly, You and I: Interdisciplinary Learning Activities

Appendix

• The Parts of an Airplane
• Aeronautical Glossary
• Suggested Reading
• NASA Resources for Educators
• Evaluation Reply Card

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Acknowledgments

Photography (numbered clockwise from upper left): NACA file photos, NASA file photo, and images by Nick Galante, Mike Smith, Jim Ross, Ted Huetter, and Carla Thomas, credited throughout the guide.

Special thanks to Michelle Davis, Lee Duke, Jim Fitzgerald, Deborah Gallaway, Jane George, Doris Grigsby, Yvonne Kellogg, Marianne McCarthy, Joan Sanders, Greg Vogt, Deborah Dyer Wahlstrom, and Ralph Winrich. NACA/NASA aircraft technical drawings were created by Dennis Calaba and Marco Corona.

This guide was produced at NASA Dryden Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, with graphics support from NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia.

Editors: Pat Biggs, Ted Huetter
Contributors/Writers: Charles Anderson, Pat Biggs, Deborah Brown, Steve Culivan, Sue Ellis, James Gerard, Ellen Hardwick, Norm Poff, Carla Rosenberg, Deborah Shearer, Octavia Tripp, Ron Ernst
Art Direction and Layout: Ted Huetter
Graphic Illustration: Rod Waid

(Cover image: NACA X-1 Research Aircraft, 1946)

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How to Use This Guide

This guide opens with charts (called matrices) that show which education standards and skills each classroom activity supports. It also includes an overview of NASA's aeronautics mission and a short history of flight. The activities themselves are organized into three sections:

• Air
• Flight
• We Can Fly, You and I

Each activity is written for the teacher and follows the same format: (1) learning objectives, (2) the education standards and skills it addresses, and (3) background information on the topic. Step-by-step instructions and diagrams then guide the teacher through leading the activity in class. Every activity also includes student pages, marked with a special icon.

Student pages range from simple diagrams to more detailed worksheets. They're meant to support what the teacher presents, remind students of key steps, and spark their own creativity. For activities that involve building something step-by-step, the student pages are designed so that even students who can't yet read well can follow along.

Each of the three main sections ends with a list of suggested activities that connect aeronautics to other school subjects.

This publication is in the public domain and is not protected by copyright. No permission is required to copy or distribute it.

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Preface

Welcome to the exciting world of aeronautics. The word aeronautics comes from France, built from Greek words meaning "air" and "to sail." Aeronautics is the study of flight and how aircraft operate. This guide explains basic ideas in aeronautics, gives background on the history of aviation, and places these ideas in context—covering the atmosphere, airports, and navigation.

The activities in this guide are meant to be simple and fun. They were developed by specialists in NASA's Aerospace Education Services Program, who have used them successfully in workshops and student programs across the United States. The activities invite students to explore how flight works and to see real-world applications of math, science, and technology.

Flight has a remarkable power to inspire learning.

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Activity Matrices

The following charts show how each activity connects to national standards and skills in science, mathematics, and inquiry. The activities listed include: Air Engines, Dunked Napkin, Paper Bag Mask, Wind in Your Socks, Bag Balloons, Sled Kite, Right Flight, Delta Wing Glider, Rotor Motor, Making Time Fly, Where Is North?, Let's Build a Table Top Airport, and Plan to Fly There.

Science Standards covered across the activities include: science as inquiry; position and motion of objects; physical science; properties of objects and materials; unifying concepts and processes; evidence, models, and explanation; science and technology; science in social and personal perspectives; and the history and nature of science.

Mathematics Standards covered include: problem solving; communication; reasoning; making connections; measurement; verifying and interpreting results; estimation; prediction; and graphing.

Science Process Skills practiced include: observing; communicating; measuring; collecting data; predicting; making graphics; investigating; interpreting data; inferring; controlling variables; and making models.

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Aerospace Technology Enterprise

NASA's Aerospace Technology Enterprise is responsible for developing advanced technologies that address the challenges of air and space transportation. Its mission is to help the United States stay at the forefront of aerospace technology, protect national security, and share the benefits of these innovations with society as a whole.

Just as society has undergone a revolution in communication and information technology, NASA believes a similar revolution is needed in mobility. To expand human exploration and commercial activity in space, the cost of space travel must come down while its reliability and safety go up. At the same time, both the economy and everyday quality of life depend on an air transportation system that is safe, environmentally responsible, and able to keep up with the demand for fast, dependable, affordable movement of people and cargo.

Working alongside partners in industry, government, and universities, NASA has set four major goals to keep the United States a leader in civil aeronautics and space transportation:

• Revolutionize aviation
• Advance space transportation
• Pioneer new technologies
• Bring new technologies into commercial use

Revolutionize Aviation

This goal focuses on expanding aviation safely and in an environmentally responsible way. Specific targets include:

• Increase safety: Make the air transportation system—already quite safe—even safer, by cutting the aircraft accident rate by a factor of 5 within 10 years, and by a factor of 10 within 25 years.
• Reduce emissions: Protect both local air quality and the global climate by cutting nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from future aircraft by 70 percent within 10 years and 80 percent within 25 years.