Introduction
Have you ever wondered how an airplane stays in the air or how an jet engine works? Do you know what materials are used to make airplanes? This project will not only answer these questions but will also let you design your own plane and meet some aviation pioneers along the way. You become the engineer in this hands on project of designing a new airplane. The resources your are going to use are fun and full of animations and a video showing the engine Orville and Wilbur Wright used, over 100 years ago, actually running! You don't know who the Wright Brothers were, don't worry you will at the end of this fun filled project.
Task
Upon completion of this quest you will understand that there are many parts to designing an aircraft.
Process
Please complete the questions in your Interactive Science Notebook using the the web page resources below. Scroll down for resources.
In your ISN create the following table and answer questions:
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Aircraft Design Engineer |
Answer in this column |
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What are the four forces that act on an aircraft? |
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What principle is used when designing the wing of an aircraft? How does this principle relate to one of the forces that act on an aircraft? |
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Why does a wing lift an airplane off the ground? |
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What are the basic parts of an aircraft? |
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Aircraft Materials Engineer |
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What types of materials are used in making an aircraft today? Why do they use these materials? |
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What materials did they use in aircraft 100 years ago? Do they still use some of them today? |
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What properties do the materials need to have? Should they be light, heavy, strong, smooth? Why is the mineral titanium used in aircraft? |
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Explain how Bernoulli's Principle creates lift on the wing of an airplane and allows heavy objects to fly. Use the link below, then answer in your notebook. |
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Learn about the Wright brothers. Click on the video link below. Then in the next column write 3 interesting facts about the Wright brothers.
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Design engineer - You must learn about the theory of flight and how certain designs work best for different aircraft.
Use the following resources to do your research:
http://www.aviation-history.com/theory/force.htm
http://www.aviation-history.com/theory/airfoil.htm
http://www.aviation-history.com/theory/index-theory.html
Materials Engineer - You must learn about materials and what properties or things about them that make them good to use in the design of an aircraft.and how certain materials work best for different aircraft.
Use the following resources to do your research:
http://www.first-to-fly.com/Adventure/Workshop/materials.htm
Evaluation
All of the table is complete with answers from the web.
Conclusion
Aircraft design has changed drastically over time and with increase in technology. But, the basic forces and principles apply to all forms of flight.