This problem solving activity is great fun and the essence of what makes it "fly" is how much one understands various principles that relate to science. The questions children may consider in this project are "How can I best design my craft to make it fly the furthest?" "How does the amount of air in the balloon affect the flight of the craft?" "How is the distance of flight affected by the type of string used to fly my craft on?"
In this lesson, children are given plain paper, construction paper, tape, scissors, a straw, and a balloon. They are given the instructions to build a craft. The only requirement is that there is some place to connect a straw and balloon on the finished flyer so that it can be flown. While the children work, the teacher tapes one end of a piece of fishing line and a piece of yarn, each about fifteen feet long, to an object that is roughly five feet from the floor.
As each child completes his flyer he tapes a straw to it. The fishing line or yarn is fed through the straw, thus suspending their flyer in the air. The student attaches the balloon to the suspended flyer with tape and then blows it up as much as he can, pinching off the end until the flyer is ready to be flown. On cue, the child releases the balloon and watches the flyer fly. How far did it go? Did it make it to the end? How fast did it go? Will it go faster or slower on the yarn string?
Each of these observations can be used as the basis for redesigning the craft and making it faster or the distance covered longer. On top of it, the comparison between flights on the yarn and the fishing line will prompt interesting discoveries as well. Teachers can take it further by graphing distances or flight times. Faster and longer flying designs can be used as the basis for making discoveries about what makes a flyer more efficient. This can then be applied to real flying crafts.
It's awesome fun with lots of applications.