Design + build + fly bird-shaped gliders

Design + build + fly bird-shaped gliders
OBSERVE
Birds with long, big wings are very good gliders. They float in the air for a long time
without flapping.
Can you think of some other birds with long, big wings that are good gliders?
Owl, Turkey Vulture, Kestrel, Hawk
If you look from the side, you may notice
that birds’ wings are curved. This curved
wing shape is called an airfoil. Like a fan
blade, an airfoil changes the direction of
the flow of air: it pushes the flow down.
According to Newton's laws of motion, if air is pushed down by the airfoil (the
curved wing shape), then the airfoil will be pushed up by the air, causing lift. The
wings, and bird, lift up. This is the concept of Action-Reaction: every force exerted has
an equal and opposite force exerted back.
You can test this by throwing a basketball
while standing on a skateboard. Did you
move in the opposite direction from the ball?
Even though the ball goes forward, it pushes
back on you - causing you to move back as
well.
Look carefully at the different birds in the
forest.
Notice their wings, the size, shape,
w h e t h e r t h e y a r e e l l i p t i c a l ( l i ke a
hummingbird), rectangular (like a turkey
vulture), triangular (like a duck), oval (like an
owl). Notice the feathers on the wing tip.
How is the wing tip of a crow different from
a magpie?
Notice the size and shape of the
body. The pigeon has a very big body
because it has big wing muscles. It can take
off almost vertically - a very difficult thing to
do!
Notice the number of times a bird flaps its wings. Can you count the number of
flaps in 15 seconds? What do you notice about the number of flaps and the size of
the bird? Usually small birds need to flap their wings faster.
EXPERIMENT
• Think about the wing shape for your bird by first sketching it out. This will
help you plan out the design shape carefully, because once you cut it out, it will
be hard to join the pieces back together!
• Build the body of your bird. Choose a shape that will be strong and can
survive many crashes.
• Cut out the horizontal and vertical part of the tail.
• Draw and cut out the wings. Cut a variety of wing shapes to try.
• Tape the parts together, making sure the wings and tail are
taped evenly on the body.
• Put a little play-doh or a few paper clips in the nose, as a weight.
• Throw the plane gently and see how it flies. If it goes up or dives
too steeply, it is not balanced. What do you think you can do to balance it
better?
• Try it with the different wings.
REFLECT
What wing shape helps your bird go farthest?
What are you proud of learning?
Bird Beaks – Science Investigation
Birds eat many different
types of foods. It may depend upon their
environment and what’s available for them to eat. It could even depend
upon their body and beak structure and how they are able to get the
food. Bird beaks (or “bills” as scientists call them) have adapted over
BirdtoBeak
Adaptations
the years
help the
bird survive in whatever environment they are in.
Here are
examples
of different
birdthey
beaks
Bird’ssome
beaks are
shaped according
to the food
eat. or bills.
Bird beaks
are great
of “simple
Material
- Type
of examples
Beak or
Bill machines”.
Other examples of simple machines that you may have
1. Strong
a curved
seen orjaw
usedwith
yourself
are ramps,beak
scissors,(Clothespins)
hammers,
levers, and
pulleys.
We use
simple machines
because or clothespins with
2. Pointed
long
beak
(Forceps,
Tweezers,
they give us a “mechanical
” which sticks
just
glued advantage,
on popcycle
to form long beak)
means they help us push harder or faster than we
3. Scooping
beak
would be able
to do(Rounded
without them.Spoon)
For example, one
person would not be able to lift a piano without any
Directions:
help from a simple machine, but if she uses a pulley
1. Use
each
typethe
of piano
beak up
(clothespin,
tweezers/long,
system,
or rolls
a gentle ramp,
she could spoon) to pick up as
many
the food items as possible in one try.
lift
it by of
herself.
2. Count the number of items the bird ate.
arethe
very
useful
simple
machines. A lever can
3. Levers
Record
data
under
the graph.
help youtheliftdata.
something
very heavy
(a the
car-lifting
4. Graph
Remember
to use
right jack
“scale” if there are not enough
uses
a
lever)
or
move
something
faster
than
you
usually could (a baseball bat is a
lines on the graph.
lever). The mechanical advantage that the lever gives you is based on the specific
5. Answer the question.
6. Compare your data with your teams.
7. Move to the next feeding station when directed.
positions of the thing you’re pushing (the “load”), the place you’re pushing on the
lever (the “effort”), and the place the lever turns around (the “fulcrum”).
EXPERIMENT
• Draw and create a design that will allow you to pick up
as much food in ONE try without touching the food.
• You can connect the pencils together with rubber bands
to act as a lever.
• You can attach different types of grabbers at the end to
pick up different types of food.
TEST & NOTICE
A compound lever system contains more than one lever. The load in one lever acts
as the effort for the other lever - thus amplifying the effort exerted.
How many fulcrums does your design have?
When you opened your beak design you applied a force on its two arms to open
the cup system. The amount of effort needed will depend on the length of the
pencils you used. The longer your arms, the less effort or force is needed to lift your
load or your object from the water. The more levers placed in a row the better your
mechanical advantage will be to lift your load.