Paper Planes
A WebQuest for Year 3-6 students (Science) designed by Lisa Hill
Introduction | Task | Process | Assessment | Conclusion | Credits
Web Sites to Use | Advanced Users Only | Design Tips | Flying Your Plane | Fun Stuff
Worksheet 1 | Results Worksheet 2 |Assessment Rubric
Introduction
In last year’s Science Week Fly-Off, there was a competition to make a paper plane that could fly the longest distance.
Would you like to win the Fly-Off next time?
Then you need to know….
What makes a paper plane fly a long, long way?
This WebQuest will teach you how to make the best paper airplanes ever!
You will learn to make planes using different designs,
and test them out to see which flies the longest way.
You can learn to make the Star Cruiser, the Nemesis, the Space Shuttle, the Sabretooth the Best Paper Airplane in the World, the JLine Original, the Shuttle, the Boomerang and the Helicopter.
You will also learn how to calibrate your plane to make it fly better.
Task
You will use only the internet to find the designs.
You will need lots of A4 paper, some scissors, and maybe some paper clips, sticky tape or glue.
Process
1. Your teacher will put you in a team of 5-6 students.
4. You will hand in two completed worksheets at the end of the WebQuest.
First you need to plan and organise what you are going to do.
1. Decide on the rules for making the planes. You will need to agree as a group what is allowed –
2. Browse through the web sites below. Choose designs that are not too hard to make.
3. Click here to print out worksheet #1 and fill it in.
· list the names of the planes you’ve chosen,
· write down their URLS (website addresses) and
· predict their degree of difficulty to make.
4. Decide with your group on a different design for each person in the team. Print out the template or design if there is one.
5. Organise your paper and any other materials that you need. You may want to decorate your plane (if you have time.)
6. Make the planes, helping each other if necessary. Remember, this is a team WebQuest, and you need to help others make the best plane possible.
7. Decide on some rules to make the test fair.
· Will you test the planes inside, and if so where? Who do you need to ask for permission?
· If outside, how will you make it fair if it’s a windy day?
· Will everyone fly their plane at the same time?
· What will you use for a starting line?
· What will you use to measure the distance?
· Do you need judges? How can you test them to see if they can measure carefully and fairly?
· Will you have an audience? How can you make sure that they are safe and won’t get poked in the eye?
· Click here to print out the Results Worksheet 2 . The test the planes and record your results on the sheet.
8. Investigate the designs using the design tips to find out why some planes did better than others. Check out
· The size or length of the wings or tail flaps
· The weight of the plane at the front or the back
9. Complete the sentence at the bottom of the results worksheet and hand in your work.
1. Label each plane you make with
· A number or the plane’s name.
2. Write down the URL (website address) of the sites you use VERY carefully.
4. Make creases sharp by pressing down gently with the edge of a ruler.
Web Sites to use
Build a simple paper plane to start with
Now have a look at these, decide on their degree of difficulty and choose your design.
The Nemesis: holder of the world paper airplane flying distance record – 58.82 metres.
The Space Shuttle - print out the design
The best paper airplane in the world – it’s really difficult – are you ready for the challenge?
The Shuttle (different from the Space Shuttle)
The Helicopter Ok, it’s not a plane, but it’s fun to make…
Advanced Users only
Design Tips
Visit the
Paper Airplane Flight Clinic to correct problems.
You need to have PopUps enabled to see this.
DO NOT ENABLE POP-UPS WITHOUT ASKING YOUR TEACHER FIRST.
Here’s a trick that other competitors may not know! (smoothing the lines)
Flying your plane
Tips to correct flight problems
Most of the web sites give tips about flying the planes at the end of the instructions.
Fun Stuff to try when you’ve finished
Return to top of the page
Assessment
Click here to print out the Assessment Rubric, fill in your names and class, and hand in to your teacher with the finished worksheets.
| 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Outstanding | Very good | Ok (just) | Not completed, not satisfactory, or not enough work done to tell. |
| Your group worked well together. | You had some problems but you fixed them yourself. | You needed teacher help to sort out a problem. | Your group had lots of problems and needed a lot of teacher help to sort them out. |
| Everyone did a fair share of the work. | Everyone worked most of the time. | Everyone worked some of the time. | Some people didn't do any work at all. |
| You navigated the web pages by yourselves. | You needed help to navigate a couple of the web pages. | You needed help to navigate most of the web pages. | You didn't try, you couldn't do it, or you didn't finish looking. |
| Each of you made at least one plane. | Most of you made a plane. | Some of you made a plane. | Nobody made a plane. |
| The planes match the designs on the web very well. | The planes match the designs on the web pretty well. | The planes match the designs on the web a bit. | The planes don't match the designs on the web at all. |
| You completed worksheet#1 neatly and carefully. | You completed worksheet#1, mostly in a neat and careful way. | You completed worksheet#1. | Worksheet#1 was messy, not finished or not started. |
| You completed worksheet#2 neatly and carefully. | You completed worksheet#2, mostly in a neat and careful way. | You completed worksheet#2 but it's untidy. | Worksheet#2 was messy and careless, not finished or not started. |
| You showed you understand how to change the design to make the plane go further very clearly. | You showed you understand how to change the design to make the plane go further fairly clearly. | You showed you understand how to change the design to make the plane go further but it's not really clear. | You didn't show you understand how to change the design to make the plane go further at all. |
Conclusion
Congratulations on completing this
WebQuest!
You have learned how to make and adjust designs of airplanes so that they fly
further, and maybe you'll be the winner in our next Science Week Fly-Off.
Good Luck!
Credits & References
Thanks to the fantastic team of people from the Education Technology Department at San Diego University for sharing their resources for developing WebQuests. Check out The WebQuest Page and the Design Patterns page if you want to try using the latest version of their templates and training materials.
We all benefit by being generous with our work. Permission is hereby granted for other educators to copy this WebQuest, update or otherwise modify it, and post it elsewhere provided that the original author's name is retained along with a link back to the original URL of this WebQuest. On the line after the original author's name, you may add Modified by (your name) on (date). If you do modify it, please let me know and provide the new URL.
Based on a template from The WebQuest Page