Research - Videos
Flight is a very intricate topic in engineering, but it is based off of four simple concepts. These concepts are thrust, lift, drag, and the concept of Bernoulli's Principle. The entire class had to create videos explaining this topic. We had to include the basic principle, a definition, and a demonstration in order to explain the concept. Flight connects to biology because the wind and flying machines impact our daily lives, forming a branch of life science.
This is my group's video on drag. My partners were Hailey Carskaddan, Forrest Jennings, and Jacquelyn Asay.
Styrofoam Gliders
After learning about the concepts of flight, we created Styrofoam gliders in order to perfectly explain how to create a flying contraption. It was curved down in the front and curved up in the back in order to create lift as well as the sufficient amount of drag. We all entered our gliders into a aerial dogfight where all the teams competed against each other. My team was the same as the partner group from before.
Geo-Kites
The sum of all these projects and research into the concept of flight was a huge geokite made out of tissue paper, McDonald's straws, and ribbon. First, we collected data from the kite. This data consisted of measurements on the height, length, and width of the triangles that made up the geokite. These measurements were used to calculate the overall height, length, width, volume, and surface area of the kites. We flew it outside to collect data on the tension in the string and the altitude of the overall kite. In order to calculate the altitude of the kite, we had to use trigonometry functions. We measured the distance between the point where the kite reached the most height and the angle of elevation with an inclinometer. Next you would have to use the tangent function to find the opposite side, or the height. My kite had a surface area of 11109 cm2 and a volume of 946.68 cm3.