NATURE INSPIRED AVIATION

YOUR CHALLENGE Instructor Notes: Tell students that drones that can operate in the air and on water can have many applications. Their challenge today is to design such a drone.

YOUR CHALLENGE Drones can help people do important but difficult or dangerous tasks, like search and rescue missions. Instructor Notes: Tell students that drones that can operate in the air and on water can have many applications. Their challenge today is to design such a drone.

FLIGHT Many animals that fly have wings. How do wings help animals fly? Instructor Notes: Before showing this slide, let students brainstorm examples of animals that fly. After they have compiled a list, they should identify similarities of organisms on the list. They should realize that most organisms that fly have wings. Then show this slide and ask, How do wings help animals fly?

FLOTATION Things that float are less dense than water. How does density determine how things float? Instructor Notes: Before presenting this slide, have students brainstorm things in nature that float in water and think about how they are similar. Students should realize that things that float are not very dense (that is, they have large volume relative to mass). Then present this slide and ask students to consider how density determines how things float.

WEIGHT AND LIFT Lift is the force that moves in the opposite direction as gravity. Weight is the force of gravity on the mass of an object. LIFT Instructor Notes: Before presenting this slide, have students complete the “Build an Airplane” Student Activity Sheet. After students have tested the design of several paper airplanes, present this slide and tell them that gravity pulls the airplane toward the ground but the wings provide lift to keep the plane in the air. WEIGHT

BOUYANCY Weight is the force of gravity on the mass of an object. The buoyant force that moves in the opposite direction as gravity. It is equal to the weight of displaced water. BUOYANT FORCE WEIGHT Instructor Notes: Before presenting this slide, have students complete the “Floating Masses” Student Activity Sheet. After students have tested how adding weights to a floating object causes it to sink, present this slide and explain that the buoyant force is equal to the weight of displaced water. As the weight increases, the floating object moves deeper into the water, displacing more water, and increasing the buoyant force. During this activity, students may point out that the mass of the object is also equal to the mass of displaced water. This is true, and will be true under most circumstances because both the weight and water experience the same acceleration: the gravitational acceleration by Earth. However, inform students that weight is a force caused by gravity between two masses. In this case, the buoyant force is equal to another force, the weight of water.

DRONES Instructor Notes: Use this slide to introduce drones to students. Using this drone or other drones that they have seen, have students draw a diagram of a drone designed for flight. Using what they know about flight, students identify aspects of drone design that promote lift.

HAWKS Instructor Notes: Use this slide to introduce students to animals that fly. Have students draw a diagram of a hawk in flight. Students should evaluate the design of a hawk to identify elements of hawk anatomy that are optimized for flight. Instruct students to think about how each of these elements can be integrated into drone design.

CHALLENGE Instructor Notes: Present students with the challenge activity. Students will design a drone inspired by an animal that can fly in the air and float in water. When they are finished, they will build a prototype and test its ability to fly and to land in water.