Paper Drop
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Prompt:
Procedure:
1) Standing up, hold a piece of paper above your head
2)Release the paper - drop, throw, toss, or let go however you want.
3)Time how long it takes to reach the ground.
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Exploration Questions:
1)How can you make the paper drop slower?
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2)How can you make the paper drop faster?
Materials:
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Printer paper
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Tape
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paper clip
Fast Falling Prototype
Slow Falling Prototype
First, we tackled the quick falling paper. I figured that paper that is dense will fall fast. As a group, we squashed the paper into compact balls. This resulted in the fastest drop time we thought possible.
Next, we explored the slower drop. My first thought was that paper that can somehow float, or catch air will fall slowest. I experimented with different sizes and shapes of paper. I found that the size and shape did not effect the time it took to fall very much. One of my group members constructed an origami parachute, but it was unsuccessful in catching air, and fell faster than unaltered paper. Her idea gave me an idea, to construct a paper airplane. My plane reached the ground after 4 seconds, and this was the slowest time we were able to achieve.
Process/Thoughts:
Whole Group Conclusions:
As a class, we learned two new ways to alter paper to drastically prolong its airtime. We made spinners, and specific paper airplanes- The "Jake Gillespie". These spinners and paper planes caught air, and stayed off the ground for longer than any other method we tried. We determined the paper ball was the fastest falling method.
"Jake Gillespie"
Paper Airplane
Paper Spinner
Takeaways and Applications:
This project encouraged trial and error. It would be an easy activity to work out hypothesis, and experiment with familiar materials. As a class, we came up with a wide variety of ideas before creating the spinners and airplanes.
I tried making the spinner with the 5 year old I Nanny, and he had a lot of fun. He was able to follow directions to make the spinner, and make predictions about if it would fall fast, or slow.