Science Fair

Grown-ups

Which wing shape flies farthest?

3rd–8th grade · 1 day of testing · free · ages 8 to 14 · 60 minutes a sitting

  • ✅ Nothing sharp, hot or small
Paper Airplane Lab: the Workshop build the paper airplane wing shapes project grows from

My hypothesis

If I change the shape of the wings, then how far the plane flies will ______, because ______.

You fill in the blanks. Think about how much air pushes up under each kind of wing, and how much air it has to push through. A guess is a good because: the test finds out.

Change, measure, keep the same

CHANGE

the shape of the wings: Narrow dart, Wide glider, Long straight wings

MEASURE

how far the plane flies, in cm

KEEP THE SAME

  • the same kind of paper
  • the same gentle, level throw from the same line
  • flying indoors, where there's no wind

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, all the same
  • Masking tape, to mark lines
  • A tape measure, or a long ruler

Steps

  1. Fold three planes from the same paper: a narrow dart, a wide glider and one with long straight wings.
  2. Put a strip of masking tape on the floor as your throwing line.
  3. Stand behind the line and throw the dart gently and level.
  4. Measure from the line to where its nose first touched the floor.
  5. Write it in your table, then throw it twice more.
  6. Throw the glider three times and the long-wing plane three times.
  7. Find the middle distance for each plane.
  8. Draw a bar graph with one bar for each wing shape.

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 wing shape flies farthest?

I changed: Wing shape   I measured: how far the plane flies (cm)

Wing shapeTry 1 (cm)Try 2 (cm)Try 3 (cm)Mean
Narrow dart
Wide glider
Long straight wings

MY GRAPH (a bar graph: wing shape along the bottom, cm up the side)

What I noticed: ______________________________________________

From 4th grade, add the tries for each level and divide by how many there were: that's the mean, and it goes in the last column. Then draw a bar graph, one bar for each thing you tried.

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

Why it works

A wing pushes air down, and the air pushes the wing up: that push is called lift. Wide wings make more lift but also more drag, the air rubbing against the plane and slowing it. The farthest flier is the one with the best balance of lift and drag for the way you throw.

Going further (7th and up): Change a second thing: add one paper clip to the nose of each plane, and see whether the best wing shape changes.

Board layout

MY BOARD · 36 × 48 in tri-foldPeabody 🦉 peabody.kids/science-fair
  1. ❓ Question (10 × 8 in): Which wing shape flies farthest?
  2. 💭 Hypothesis (10 × 9 in): If I change the shape of the wings, then how far the plane flies will ______, because ______.
  3. 🧺 Materials (10 × 12 in): 3 things: see your list.
  4. 🪜 Steps (22 × 9 in): 8 steps, three tries at each level.
  5. 📊 Results (22 × 16 in): Your table (Wing 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; A tape measure, or a long ruler.

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

This project at your grade

1st–3rd gradeTries: 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.
4th–6th gradeTries: three at each level. The table: units in the header and a mean column. The graph: a bar graph, or a line for a number that grows. The conclusion: right, partly or not, and the numbers that show it.
7th grade and upTries: three or more at each level. The table: a mean for every level of both tests. The graph: a graph with two lines or two sets of bars. The conclusion: the numbers, what might have gone wrong, and a next question. Second variable: add one paper clip to the nose of each plane, and see whether the best wing shape changes.

From 4th grade up, the table gets a mean column. See every project for 3rd grade, 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 wings and measured how far the plane flies, in cm.
  • What did you keep the same, and why does that matter? I kept the same kind of paper and the same gentle, level throw from the same line the same, so the only difference was the shape of the wings.
  • 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 add one paper clip to the nose of each plane, and see whether the best wing shape changes.

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

🔨 From the Workshop: this project grows from a Workshop build, with picture steps of its own.

👨‍👩‍👧 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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