Glide Slope Ratio & Angle and Paper Airplanes

Created Feb. 7, 2024 by STEMToolkit Administrator

Purpose - Students design, build and test a paper airplane in order to determine the glide slope.   The glide slope is the path of descent for an aircraft preparing to land.  To determine the glide slope,  the students need to know the height when the plane starts gliding and the distance the plane travels. 

Introduction

Ask students:  "What do you think is the glide slope and why the glide slope is important for the safety of the passengers on the plane."

Students can do a brief research on 1) glide angle and 2) how to make a paper airplane or what is believed to be the best approach to making a paper airplane.

After discussion - have students make a preliminary claim about the type of paper airplane and glide slopes. 

Tell students: "Today's class goal is to build a paper airplane and use your plane to determine the glide slope." 

Lesson Body

Have students work individually or in groups of 2 or 3.  Each student (even if working in groups) will be given a sheet of paper.

Each student should construct their own paper airplane.  Each group should design a data table to collect group information on the type of paper airplane, the Y (height at release) and X (distance plane travels after release). 

Each student will fly their paper airplane with the other members of the class or group marking the height of the release point. This will be the change in the Y direction they will need to calculate the slope of the airplane.

The other members of the class or group will also need to mark exactly where on the floor the paper airplane first hits. The horizontal distance between the release point and the first place the plane hits the floor will also need to be measured. This will be the change in the X direction they will need to calculate the slope of the airplane. 

Calculations

Now that students have taken measurements of the vertical (Y) and horizontal (X) displacements of their airplanes, they will be able to calculate the glide ratio and glide angle.

Glide ratio = Vertical height (Y) / Hortizontal distance (X)

Glide angle =  inverse tan (Y/X)

                                                                                Reference: https://www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-12/airplane/glidang.html

Conclusion 

Students share results by making a claim about the type of paper airplane and the glide angle.   They should back up their claim with evidence and reasoning.  

                                                  Reference:  https://www.edutopia.org/blog/science-inquiry-claim-evidence-reasoning-eric-brunsell

Extension

  • Have students do research to find the typical glide slopes of airplanes to see if passengers on their paper airplanes would have had a comfortable landing or not.
  • Have students use the engineering design process to increase creativity and collaboration. Submit designs, data collection, and re-designs. 

Accessibility

UDL Guidelines

  • Provide learners with as much discretion and autonomy as possible by providing choices in such things as:
    • The level of perceived challenge
    • The type of rewards or recognition available
    • The context or content used for practicing and assessing skills
    • The tools used for information gathering or production
    • The color, design, or graphics of layouts, etc.
    • The sequence or timing for completion of subcomponents of tasks
  • Create cooperative learning groups with clear goals, roles, and responsibilities
  • Create school-wide programs of positive behavior support with differentiated objectives and supports
  • Provide prompts that guide learners in when and how to ask peers and/or teachers for help
  • Provide differentiated models to emulate (i.e. models that demonstrate the same outcomes but use differing approaches, strategies, skills, etc.)
  • Provide differentiated mentors (i.e., teachers/tutors who use different approaches to motivate, guide, feedback or inform)
  • Provide scaffolds that can be gradually released with increasing independence and skills (e.g., embedded into digital reading and writing software)


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