Flight with Mr. Brisco

For the past five weeks, the intermediate students have studied flight with Mr. Brisco. More specifically, we focused on the four forces of flight: thrust, lift, drag, and gravity. In studying these forces and Newton's Laws of Motion, the students used the scientific method to set up investigations and experiments. After each experiment, students integrated their labs into spreadsheets and created a slideshow or prezi outlining what they learned. 

THRUST

To test thrust, the students launched rockets.

Here is a slide created by a student from this experiment:

LIFT

To test lift, the students conducted an experiment in which they used the 'wind' from a hairdryer on see how the air going around the wing causes it to go up. 

Here is the slide from a student from this experiment:

DRAG

They tested drag by creating different shaped parachutes and helicopters and tested each one to see which was most effective.

GRAVITY

They tested gravity by exploring how heat can make balloons rise. The students were divided into two groups and each group created their own design for a hot air balloon. Then, they went outside to test their models.