Research Phase Student Data

Students created different shaped parachutes with the same area of 675 cm². Students used 4 strings that were 30 cm long and a paper clip for weight. Students completed 5 trials by dropping their parachute from the distance of 9 meters. Students used the same technique for dropping the parachute to ensure results were reliable.

Students picked the top three shapes to further investigate-circle, square and parallelogram with various areas. Same procedures were used for all of the investigations.

Students experimented with different materials as well as the two chosen shapes. The shapes had the same area of 675 cm². Second test included a large washer to increase weight. All other variables were the same as previous testing.