Two kids and I went to the library a few weeks ago to get a book about how planes fly. The library was a small branch. It was difficult to find a children’s book about airplanes. Several children’s books about flight and aircraft had too much text for a five-year-old child to understand. The plan was to get an easy children’s book to teach the kids simple concepts in aerodynamics and augment the learning experience with an activity book about paper airplanes. Unfortunately, we had to settle on just making paper planes without understanding aerodynamics. Advanced Championship Paper Planes by Paul Jackson provided me and the kids with a fun activity.
Advanced Championship Paper Planes is a thin paperback book with approximately 32 pages. The books provide step-by-step instructions with illustrations. I tested the book out on a seven-year-old girl. She did not understand the instructions, so I started making planes for her and the five-year-old boy.
First, I made a “Chuck Finn” paper plane with colored construction paper for the five-year-old boy. It spirals down to the floor. Second, I made a “Thunder Bomber” for myself in colored construction paper. It flew better than the “Chuck Finn,” but the paper’s light weight may be a factor as to how straight and how far it can fly. Third, I made all three of us each a “Thunder Bomber” in colored cardstock. The heavier weight of the cardstock improved the flight of the “Thunder Bomber.” It flew straighter and farther than my previous version in colored construction paper. If you borrow or buy Advanced Championship Paper Planes, I recommend buying a pack of colored cardstock as well. The cardstock will makes the paper plane relatively rigid and strong.
There is a total of twelve paper plane designs contained in this book. I have not tested out the remaining ten designs. The kids and I are happy with the “Thunder Bomber” design. This is a fun activity book for home and school. As a safety precaution, do not fly these planes in anyone’s direction. Make sure no one is standing within the plane’s forward flight path. At least two persons were hit in the eye with a plane made with cardstock. The “Thunder Bomber” has a point at the nose and flies really fast, so be careful where you aim your paper planes.
Creating the paper planes form this book can serve as a simple and affordable science project for teachers and parents. You can use this book’s origami designs for a STEM or STEAM project. Before the kids create paper planes, you might consider allowing them, first, to draw pictures or unique designs on the paper to distinguish each child’s paper plane from all others. Creating identifying designs on the paper can serve as the “art” component of a STEAM project. After all, manufactured products often have a brand or unique graphic designs on them. Second, you can have kids create all twelve designs in the classroom or indoors at home, fly them outside, measure and document several trials of the observed distance of each flight test for each design, return to the classroom or indoors, calculate the average and median distance each design can fly, and decide which design has the best aeronautic design based upon the documented data. Your kids can test which type of paper is best for each design and for paper plane creation in general. Choosing the type of paper material and creating the paper planes can be the “engineering” component of a STEM or STEAM project. Measuring the distance and calculating the average and median distance for each plane design can be the “math” component. Asking a question, proposing a hypothesis, testing the hypothesis, documenting observed and measurable data for each test flight, and writing about the test results and discoveries into a scientific report can be the “science” component of this STEM or STEAM project, because the scientific method was used. In this case, the scientific question can be, “Which paper plane design will fly farthest?” A second scientific question can be, “Which paper material is best for making paper planes?” Whatever you decide to do, Advanced Championship Paper Planes can be used as a simple, cheap, and fun science project about aeronautics for school and home.
I highly recommend this book to parents of children, who are interested in how planes and animals fly. This is a fun activity to do at home. I have tested this book out on a five-year-old boy and a seven-year-old girl. They were unable to engineer the planes themselves. I had to do it for them, but they will have lots of fun flying their planes across the room. I highly recommend this book to teachers to create a fun classroom and outdoors activity, especially if your school has a STEM or STEAM program. Creating paper planes with your kids or students can be an affordable STEM or STEAM for home and school.
Reference
Jackson, Paul. Advanced Championship Paper Planes. Reisterstown: Allied Publishing Group, 2000.
Links:
How do airplanes fly by the State of Connecticut
Flight by sciencekidsathome.com
How do planes fly, National Geographic Kids, YouTube video
How do airplanes fly, Kids Video Show, YouTube video
Paper Airplanes by aviation-for-kids.com
Free Paper Airplane Designs-Printable Templates by funpaperairplanes.com
Paper Airplane Designs by foldnfly.com
Origami Airplane Instructions-How to make paper airplanes by origami-instructions.com
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