Science Fair

Grown-ups

Which paper goes farthest: a flat sheet, a ball or a plane?

kindergarten · 1 day of testing · free · ages 5 to 6 · 25 minutes a sitting

  • 🧍 Drop from standing: never climb
  • 🙅 Never at faces
What you need for the throwing paper project: paper, masking tape, to mark lines, crayons or markers

My hypothesis

If I change the shape of the paper, then how many heel-to-toe steps it goes will ______, because ______.

You fill in the blanks. Think about which shape cuts through the air, and which one gets pushed back by it. A guess is a good because: the test finds out.

Change, measure, keep the same

CHANGE

the shape of the paper: Flat sheet, Paper ball, Paper plane

MEASURE

how many heel-to-toe steps it goes, in steps

KEEP THE SAME

  • the same size of paper
  • throwing from the same line
  • the same gentle throw

Scientists call the thing you change the independent variable and the thing you measure the dependent variable. The things you keep the same are the controls: if one of them changed too, you wouldn't know which change made the difference. Try each of the 3 levels 3 times.

What you need

  • Paper: 3 sheets the same size
  • Masking tape, to mark lines: a line on the floor
  • Crayons or markers
  • 🩹 Tape

Steps

  1. Your grown-up folds one sheet into a plane. You scrunch one into a ball and keep one flat.
  2. Put a tape line on the floor and stand behind it.
  3. Throw the flat sheet gently, standing on the floor. Never at anyone's face.
  4. Walk heel to toe to where it landed, counting your steps.
  5. Your grown-up writes the number down. Throw it two more times.
  6. Throw the ball three times, and the plane three times.
  7. Colour a box for every step. Which shape went farthest?

Every step is one you can do yourself, with a grown-up nearby. Write each number down straight away, in the table below, so nothing is lost.

Your results table

MY RESULTSPeabody 🦉 peabody.kids/science-fair

Name ______________________ Fair day ____________

Question: Which paper goes farthest: a flat sheet, a ball or a plane?

I changed: Paper shape   I measured: how many heel-to-toe steps it goes (steps)

Paper shapeTry 1 (steps)Try 2 (steps)Try 3 (steps)
Flat sheet
Paper ball
Paper plane

MY GRAPH (a bar graph: paper shape along the bottom, steps up the side)

What I noticed: ______________________________________________

Write each try's number in its box. Then draw a bar graph, one bar for each thing you tried.

📊 Make my graph🖨 Print the whole packet (9 pages)

Why it works

Air pushes back on anything that moves through it. A flat sheet catches lots of air and slows down quickly, while a ball and a plane slip through, and a plane's wings can even help it glide.

Going further (7th and up): Change a second thing: make planes with short wings and long wings, and throw each one three times.

My picture board

A kindergarten board is one page: the question, a guess to tick, a drawing of the test, a box coloured for each count, and what your child found out, in their words. Glue it to a folded card, or the middle of a tri-fold.

MY PICTURE BOARDPeabody 🦉 peabody.kids/science-fair

Which paper goes farthest: a flat sheet, a ball or a plane?

I think… tick one:

  • ☐ Flat sheet
  • ☐ Paper ball
  • ☐ Paper plane

This is my test: draw it.

I counted: colour one box for each step, for my first try.

Flat sheet
Paper ball
Paper plane

I found out:

Board layout

MY BOARD · 36 × 48 in tri-foldPeabody 🦉 peabody.kids/science-fair
  1. ❓ Question (10 × 8 in): Which paper goes farthest: a flat sheet, a ball or a plane?
  2. 💭 Hypothesis (10 × 9 in): If I change the shape of the paper, then how many heel-to-toe steps it goes will ______, because ______.
  3. 🧺 Materials (10 × 12 in): 3 things: see your list.
  4. 🪜 Steps (22 × 9 in): 7 steps, three tries at each level.
  5. 📊 Results (22 × 16 in): Your table (Paper shape down the side, tries across) and your bar graph.
  6. ✅ Conclusion (10 × 14 in): My hypothesis was right / partly right / not right. I know because…

Materials to list: Paper; Masking tape, to mark lines; Crayons or markers.

Bring photos or drawings of your test. Nothing wet, hot, powered or alive on the table.

This project at your grade

KindergartenTries: three at each level (one is fine at a first fair). The table: levels and tries, numbers or pictures. The graph: a picture, or a simple bar graph. The conclusion: what happened, in their words.

From 4th grade up, the table gets a mean column. See every project for kindergarten, or print a blank results table.

What a judge will ask

  • What did you change, and what did you measure? I changed the shape of the paper and measured how many heel-to-toe steps it goes, in steps.
  • What did you keep the same, and why does that matter? I kept the same size of paper and throwing from the same line the same, so the only difference was the shape of the paper.
  • How many times did you test it? 3 times at each of my 3 levels.
  • If you did it again, what would you change or test next? I'd make planes with short wings and long wings, and throw each one three times.

Make it yours

Keep this project on this device and Peabody counts down to your fair day, with a plan for each day. Nothing is sent anywhere.

Try next

👨‍👩‍👧 For grown-ups and teachers: how much to help, the safety rules, and running a school fair. Science fair v0.16.1 · Checked .

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