Chaparral Elementary School

Latest results from Dave Carson's class of 5th graders:

We just returned from Spring Break.
The class was divided into 6 different groups that made gliders to various dimensions. Most redesigned gliders had a wing span equal to the length of the fuselage, while others had varying smaller sizes - depending on the makers' taste. Half of the 32 gliders had a dihedral wing and the other half had polyhedral (with a few elliptical). These were further divided into wings with different chords: 2", 2.5", and 3".

Here are our final flight results:

Design:	Distance:
2" chord/dihedral	18'
2.5" chord/dihedral	15'
3" chord/dihedral	13'
2" chord/polyhedral	26'
2.5" chord/polyhedral	22'
3" chord/polyhedral	16'

***The 2" chord/polyhedral with distance of 26' was the winning design.***

We have to end our participation in the project at this time. We need to move on to other things (including SAT testing).

Next time, rather than having 32 students each make their own gliders, I think Ill have them work in teams of 4. Anybody have comments on this idea?

I'd like to share what I've done for evaluation:

Evaluation of learning by my 5th graders for the glider project is based on two parts:
1. A folder that contains all notes and handouts collected during the project.
2. A final exam.

Folder contents include:
1. Handouts
  A. Forces on an Airplane, a 3 page handout on which definitions to aeronautical terms were discussed and written down.
    1. Included center of gravity, lift, weight drag, thrust, roll, pitch, yaw, span, chord, aspect ratio, leading edge, trailing edge, tapered wing, straight wing, elliptical wing, dihedral wing, and air foil. This included several graphics taken from NASA web sites.
  B. Design Problem sheet
  C. Airplane Parts Definitions
  D. Pilot Checklist (from a pilot classroom visitor)
  E. Printed material from Internet searches on the Wright Brothers.

2. The class-determined list of easy and difficult steps to making the first glider.
3. Our class standard test flight procedure with full notes, including the launch process for the first glider launches.
4. Why the glider flew poorly with a list of class-determined reasons.
5. Dimensions of the redesigned glider (fuselage length, length of tip to leading edge, chord, trailing edge to front of horizontal stabilizer, leading edge of stabilizer to rear tip, location of center of gravity).
6. Drawing of the redesigned glider with written descriptions.
7. Flight test of redesigned glider with drawings and descriptions of at least 3 test flights.
8. Glider project wrap-up with a written answer to oral questions: itemize changes from first to second glider; what aeronautic principles enabled the 2nd glider to perform better; launch procedures; problems encountered on the 2nd test flight; was the 2nd glider better; what would you try next time to improve flight?

The exam was pretty straightforward: the first page has a graphic of an airplane with numbers and letters pointing to various parts. Students needed to identify the wings, leading edge, trailing edge, fuselage, horizontal stabilizer, vertical stabilizer, thrust, lift, weight, and drag.
The 2nd page has a word bank of 13 terms (chord, yaw, span, aspect ratio, roll, pitch, dihedral, air foil, lift, center of gravity, thrust, drag, weight), followed by 13 definitions. The students needed to place the proper term next to the definition.
***42% of students got 2 or less wrong.***

I'm looking forward to hearing how other teachers handled evaluation.

Thanks for the great project. I'm looking forward to doing it again, and more efficiently!

Earlier Results:
We did our test flights of the redesigned gliders on Friday 3/26, and had a variety of results.
We had 2", 2.5", and 3" wing chords with dihedral and polyhedral designs. Center of gravity generally was too far back - only a couple were at the suggested optimum point: 1/5 of fuselage length extending from center of wing to the nose.
After trial flights the center of gravity was corrected by putting paper clips on the noses and some clay along the undersides of the wings. Thrown at a slightly downward angle, most gliders swooped up and did a graceful spiral flight. None flew straight, but a couple did go far with a strong thrust.

It was fun, and the students are now wrapping up their notes.
We should have the official results online this week.

Dave Carson