Paper Airplane Lab Experiment

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Paper Airplane Lab Experiment
Laurie Melanson GMS 2006
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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?

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Introduction

• We are going to design an experiment to test
  paper airplane flight distance.
• We want the planes to fly as far as they can.
• We need to think about how we are going to design
  and perform the experiment.
• What things do we need to think about? (Think
  about the steps of the Scientific Method)

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Problem

• What question are we trying to answer?
• We want to design an experiment to test how the
  addition of paper clips will affect the flight
  distance of the paper airplane.
• How does adding paper clips to a paper airplane
  affect its flight?

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Hypothesis

• What do you think is going to happen?
• How do you think the addition of paper clips to
  the paper airplane affect its flight distance?
• Does the placement of the clips matter?
• If paper clips are added to the _(location)_ of
  the paper airplane, then ___________
• _________________________________.

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Materials

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

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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?
• 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.

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Observations

• Data Table with measurements from the experiment.
• Include headings and labels.

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Experiment Day

• Get paper clips, lab notebook and a meter stick.
• Make the paper airplane. Make sure you follow
  directions.
• Gather materials and head out to your assigned
  runway.
• Fly your airplane, measure flight distance, and
  record your data in your notebook. Remember to
  add a paper clip each time.

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Lab Report Write Up

• Must include
• Title page Title, name, period, date due
• Introduction one paragraph about why we did this
  experiment
• Problem What question did we want to answer?
• Hypothesis What you think will happen and why?
• Materials A list of materials used
• Procedure Step by step explanation of what you
  did to perform the experiment. (Include airplane
  picture with paper clips)
• Data Table and Graph Include labels
• Conclusion Explain your results
• Questions Answer the questions about the lab in
  complete sentences.

• Click on the lab notebook to see a sample lab
  report

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Making a graph of your data

• Lets review independent and dependent variables.
• The independent variable is what the scientist
  changes during an experiment.
• The dependent variable is what happens due to
  what is changed.
• Remember

The growth of the flower is dependent upon the
amount of water it receives.
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Making the graph
How adding paper clips affects paper airplane
flight distance.
1. Create a title.
3. Determine interval and label for y-axis.
4. Plot your data.
5. Connect the data points.
2. Determine interval and label for x-axis.
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Conclusion

• What did you learn during the experiment?
• Does your data make sense?
• Was your hypothesis correct? Explain why or why
  not?
• Did you do anything wrong?
• Is there anything that you would have or should
  have done differently?
• Your conclusion should be 3 to 4 paragraphs long.

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Questions

• What is a control? What was the control in this
  experiment?
• What is a constant? What were the constants in
  this experiment?
• What is an independent variable? What was the
  independent variable in this experiment?
• What is a dependent variable? 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!

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Paper Airplane Lab Report
Use buttons to navigate through the lab report
Mrs. Melanson Period 2, 3, 4 5 October 13, 2006
Return to write-up page
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Introduction/ Purpose
To practice using the steps of the Scientific
Method. Design an experiment and learn about
constants and variables. Test the flight of a
paper airplane after adding paper clips.
Problem
How does adding paper clips to a paper airplane
affect its flight distance?
Hypothesis
If paper clips are added to the wings of the
airplane, then the airplane flight distance will
decrease because the plane will weigh more and
not fly as far.
Return to write-up page
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Materials

• paper
• 6 paper clips
• meter sticks
• notebook

• masking tape
• pencil or pen
• marker

Procedure

• Get paper and paper clips from table.
• Make paper airplane following teachers
  directions.
• Write your name on the airplane.
• Gather notebook, writing utensil, meter sticks
  and airplane and head out to your assigned
  runway.
• Put down everything except your airplane.
• Stand on the runway start line. Stand in the same
  place each time.

Return to write-up page
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Procedure continued

• 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.
• Record your data in your notebook and pick up
  your airplane. Also record any problem you may
  have encountered. (Hitting people, bending the
  nose)
• Add a paper clip to the airplane. Make sure to
  add it to the same place each time.
• Repeat steps 6 11 for all 6 paper clips.
• Pick up all of your materials and return to
  classroom.
• Draw a picture of your airplane with the clips
  on it.
• Return the meter sticks and paper clips and
  recycle your airplane.

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Observations
During this experiment, the paper airplane
with two paper clips hit Suzie as she was walking
by and I bent the nose. After this occurred, the
airplane always drifted to the right. I think
that changed the outcome of the experiment. I put
the paper clips in the same place each time and
stood in the same place on the runway. I believe
that I also threw the plane with the same speed
each time.

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Conclusion

My data really does not have a pattern. The
distance increased and then it decreased. I think
that the distance should have kept increasing
based on my first two data points, but because I
hit Suzie and bent the nose of the plane I am not
sure. I need to be more careful. If you
change the design of the plane it will affect its
flight distance. By hitting Suzie I change the
plane and therefore the experiment. If I did
the experiment again I would make sure no one was
on the runway when I threw the plane. It is also
difficult to measure the distance when other
students are trying to fly their planes.
This lab showed us how the steps of the
Scientific Method are used to solve a problem.
Im not sure I know the answer to the question
based on this experiment. Sometimes many
experiments need to be done to find the answer.
Return to write-up page
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Questions

• A control is ____________________________________.
  The control in this experiment is
  ___________________ ______________________________
  _______________.
• A constant is something that _____________________
  _ during an experiment. The constant in this
  experiment is ____________________________________
  _________.
• An independent variable is _______________________
  __. The independent variable in this experiment
  is __________ ____________________________________
  ___________.
• A dependent variable is _________________________.
  The dependent variable in this experiment is
  __________ _______________________________________
  ________.
• My results should be the same as everyone else
  because we used the same paper and the same
  design.

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