Learn about how objects interact with the air and how design can help them move through the air more easily. Students can design a pendulum using recycled materials and watch how it moves through the air. To create an easy pendulum, dismantle an old baby swing and remove the swing portion to create a place to attach an invented pendulum. Your students can also suspend a basic, lightweight pendulum on a piece of string. Have the students examine how different pendulum shapes and materials influence its motion through space. Add a weight to the inside of the pendulum and examine how this influences the length of time that the pendulum swings.
Using small toy cars as the vehicles, have students design a number of race tracks that have different road surfaces. One might have a paper road surface, another might contain flat aquarium marbles, and another might have fine sandpaper. Have the students hypothesize how each type of race track surface will interact with the cars when they are in motion. Release the cars into the race track with a consistent force and motion and record the results on each substrate.
Use paper airplanes in different designs to experiment with aerodynamics and force. Get a book of paper airplane designs and photocopy them so that the students can create several different designs. First, have the students stand in a gym or another area with consistent wind speeds and try to throw the paper airplanes with a consistent force. They should determine which airplane has the best ability to move forward. Then the students can throw the airplanes with different types of force: a sudden forward motion, a long, powerful push, or a small but sharp release. Have the students determine which one of these types of force helps the airplane fly the farthest.
The students can also experiment with different types of airplane designs that they create themselves.
Use a salad spinner and marbles to explore the force and resulting motion of a marble in a salad spinner. Use different amounts of force to move the salad spinner. Begin with a light push and move up to vigorous spinning. Make observations about the marble's actions inside the spinner. If possible, line the spinner with paper and dip the marble in a light coat of paint so that you can track and record its motions.