1. Paper Airplane Lab Experiment

2. Questions:
Have you flown a paper airplane before? (Hopefully not in this class)
Do you always use the same type of paper?
Do you always use the same design?
Do you want it to fly straight or do tricks?

3. Introduction:
We are going to design an experiment to test the flight capability of paper airplanes.
You have to choose what you wish to test: distance, the ability to do trips.
We need to think about how we are going to design and perform the experiment.
What things do we need to think about?

4. Problem: What question are we trying to answer?
We want to design an experiment to test how the design of an airplane affects its ability to fly.
How does the design of an airplane affect its ability to fly?

5. Hypothesis:
What do you think is going to happen?
How do you think the design will affect its ability to fly?
Will the length of the wingspan matter?
Will the size of the rudder matter?
Will the size of the elevators matter?
Do the size of the ailerons matter?

6. Hypothesis:
What do you think is going to happen?
If the wingspan of the airplane is _________ , then ___________
_________________________.

7. Materials: What do we need to perform this experiment?
Make a list of materials:
Everything and anything we need to carry out the experiment.

8. Procedure: How are we going to perform the experiment?
What do we need to do?
What needs to be kept constant?
What is our control?
What is our independent variable going to be?

9. Procedure: Where are we going to perform the experiment?
What are we going to observe? How?
This should be written as a list of numbered steps.

10. Data: Data Table with measurements from the experiment.
Type of airplane
Flight Distance (m) 1 2 3 4 5 6
Average distance
Data Table with measurements from the experiment.
Include headings and labels.

11. Lab Report Write Up Must include:
Hypothesis: One sentence about what you think will happen
Abstract: one paragraph about why we did this experiment
Procedure: Step by step explanation of what you did to perform the experiment.

12. Lab Report Write Up Data: Tables and Graphs
Conclusion: Explain your results, Reject or accept hypothesis
Questions: Answer the questions about the lab in complete sentences.

13. Hypothesis
Statement saying what you expect to happen

14. Abstract Purpose Final results Background information
Must be in complete sentences

15. Data
Tables
Graphs
Calculations

16. Procedure
Materials
Step-by-step directions (can be bulleted list)

17. Conclusion Explain results in detail
Is hypothesis proven or disproven? Give reason if disproven
Sources of error

18. Conclusion What did you learn during the experiment?
Is there anything that you should have or would have done differently?
Must be in complete sentences
Answers to questions

19. The answers to the questions must be in complete sentences!
What is distance? How was distance involved in this experiment?
What is displacement? Which is more important in this experiment, distance or displacement?
What are you manipulating in this experiment? What is your independent variable?
The answers to the questions must be in complete sentences!

20. The answers to the questions must be in complete sentences!
What are you measuring? What was the dependent variable in this experiment?
Should your results be the same as others? Why or why not?
The answers to the questions must be in complete sentences!

21. Use buttons to navigate through the lab report
Paper Airplane Lab Report
Use buttons to navigate through the lab report
Return to
write-up page

22. Hypothesis:
If the wingspan is larger then it will give the plane more lift so that it flies farther.
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write-up page

23. Abstract:
Planes depend on both thrust and lift to glide. Thrust is the forward movement of the aircraft. Lift is the difference in pressure above and below the wings that enables the plane to glide. Planes that fly longer typically have large wingspans and are flown with little thrust.
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write-up page

24. Abstract:
The goal of this experiment is to determine the airplane design that travels the farthest. The Interceptor was found to travel the farthest with an average distance of 6.23 meters.
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write-up page

25. Procedures: Materials Origami paper Instructions Meter stick
Masking tape
Pencil
notebook
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write-up page

26. Get origami paper and folding instructions from table.
Procedures:
Get origami paper and folding instructions from table.
Fold paper airplane according to instructions.
Refold wings to stabilize flight.
Repeat steps 2 and 3 for the other designs.
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write-up page

27. Gather notebook, meter-stick, pencil, and airplanes to take to runway.
Procedures:
Gather notebook, meter-stick, pencil, and airplanes to take to runway.
Put down everything except your airplane.
Stand on the runway start line. Stand in the same place each time.
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write-up page

28. Procedures:
With the airplane in hand, pull your arm back and throw the airplane down the runway. Make sure you throw it the same way each time.
Measure the distance the airplane flew to the nose of the airplane using the meter stick.
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write-up page

29. Procedures:
Record your data in your notebook and pick up your airplane. Also record any problem you may have encountered. (Hitting people, bending the nose)
Measure the distance the airplane flew to the nose of the airplane using the meter stick.
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write-up page

30. Repeat steps 7 – 11 for 6 trials.
Procedures:
Repeat steps 7 – 11 for 6 trials.
Repeat steps 7 – 12 for the other 2 airplanes.
Pick up all of your materials and return to classroom.
Return the meter sticks recycle your airplanes
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write-up page

31. Data: Flying Wing Trial Flight Distance (m) 1 3.14 2 2.23 3 3.45 4
2.69 5
3.82 6
4.73
Average Distance
3.34
Interceptor
Trial
Flight Distance (m) 1
4.53 2
6.23 3
7.14 4
7.52 5
6.59 6
5.34
Average Distance
Elephant
Trial
Flight Distance (m) 1
5.32 2
4.75 3
5.84 4
6.37 5
5.73 6
6.49
Average Distance
5.75
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write-up page

32. Data:
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write-up page

33. Conclusion:
My data shows that the Interceptor flew farther than the Flying Wing and the Elephant with an average distance of 6.23m. This disproves my hypothesis because its wingspan was smaller than the Interceptor’s.

34. Conclusion:
I think that the distances for the Interceptor should have been closer together, but because I hit Suzie and bent the nose of the plane the distances varied. Also the Flying Wing did not fly as well as the other planes possibly because I did not give it any elevators.

35. Conclusion:
If I did the experiment again I would try giving the Flying Wing some elevators to give it more lift. I would also make sure no one was on the runway when I threw the plane.

36. Conclusion:
I learned a better method to measure large distances. I also learned about flight and the types of wings on planes and how they are used to make planes fly better.

37. Questions:
What is distance? _______________ How was distance involved in this experiment? ______________________________
What is displacement? _______________ Which is more important in this experiment, distance or displacement? _____________
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write-up page

38. Questions:
What are you manipulating in this experiment? What is your independent variable? ______________________________
What are you measuring? What was the dependent variable in this experiment? ______________________________
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write-up page

39. Questions:
Should your results be the same as others? Why or why not? ____________________________________________________________
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write-up page