Science Fair

Grown-ups

Which material makes the slowest parachute?

4th–8th grade · 1 day of testing · free · ages 9 to 14 · 60 minutes a sitting

  • 👶 Small parts
  • 🧍 Drop from standing: never climb
What you need for the parachute materials project: plastic bags, paper, a cotton t-shirt or tea towel, tissue paper, string or yarn

My hypothesis

If I change what the parachute is made from, then how long the parachute takes to fall will ______, because ______.

You fill in the blanks. Think about which materials let air through, and which hold the air under them. A guess is a good because: the test finds out.

Change, measure, keep the same

CHANGE

what the parachute is made from: Plastic bag, Paper, Cotton cloth, Tissue paper

MEASURE

how long the parachute takes to fall, in seconds

KEEP THE SAME

  • 30 cm squares
  • the same 30 cm strings
  • two paper clips hanging underneath every time
  • dropping from the same height

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 4 levels 5 times.

What you need

  • Plastic bags: 1 big one
  • Paper: 1 sheet
  • A cotton T-shirt or tea towel
  • Tissue paper: 1 sheet
  • String or yarn: 16 pieces, each 30 cm
  • Paper clips: 8
  • A stopwatch or a kitchen timer
  • ✂️ Kid scissors
  • 🩹 Tape
  • 📏 A ruler

Steps

  1. Cut a 30 cm square from a plastic bag, from paper, from cotton cloth and from tissue paper.
  2. Tie or tape a 30 cm string to each corner of every square.
  3. Tie each parachute's four strings together and hook on two paper clips.
  4. Hold the plastic parachute as high as you can reach, standing on the floor. Never climb on a chair.
  5. Let go as a helper starts the timer, and stop it when it lands.
  6. Write the time down, then drop it four more times.
  7. Do five drops with each of the other three parachutes.
  8. Find the mean for each material and draw a bar graph.

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 material makes the slowest parachute?

I changed: Material   I measured: how long the parachute takes to fall (seconds)

MaterialTry 1 (seconds)Try 2 (seconds)Try 3 (seconds)Try 4 (seconds)Try 5 (seconds)Mean
Plastic bag
Paper
Cotton cloth
Tissue paper

MY GRAPH (a bar graph: material along the bottom, seconds 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)🛠 Run it as an engineering project

Why it works

A parachute slows a fall by catching air under it, and the air pushes back up. A material with tiny gaps lets some air slip through, so it catches less, and a heavy material pulls down harder. So the slowest parachute is usually light and hard for air to get through.

Going further (7th and up): Change a second thing: make the best material in 20, 30 and 40 cm squares, and graph the fall times of the three sizes.

Board layout

MY BOARD · 36 × 48 in tri-foldPeabody 🦉 peabody.kids/science-fair
  1. ❓ Question (10 × 8 in): Which material makes the slowest parachute?
  2. 💭 Hypothesis (10 × 9 in): If I change what the parachute is made from, then how long the parachute takes to fall will ______, because ______.
  3. 🧺 Materials (10 × 12 in): 7 things: see your list.
  4. 🪜 Steps (22 × 9 in): 8 steps, three tries at each level.
  5. 📊 Results (22 × 16 in): Your table (Material 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: Plastic bags; Paper; A cotton T-shirt or tea towel; Tissue paper; String or yarn; Paper clips; A stopwatch or a kitchen timer.

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

This project at your grade

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: make the best material in 20, 30 and 40 cm squares, and graph the fall times of the three sizes.

Every grade this project fits works out a mean. See every project for 4th grade, or print a blank results table.

What a judge will ask

  • What did you change, and what did you measure? I changed what the parachute is made from and measured how long the parachute takes to fall, in seconds.
  • What did you keep the same, and why does that matter? I kept 30 cm squares and the same 30 cm strings the same, so the only difference was what the parachute is made from.
  • How many times did you test it? 5 times at each of my 4 levels.
  • If you did it again, what would you change or test next? I'd make the best material in 20, 30 and 40 cm squares, and graph the fall times of the three sizes.

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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