Background Information

 For Teachers    For Students

Quick: Explain how an airplane stays airborne. Are you able to immediately articulate the nuances of drag and lift, not to mention thrust? We can all use a review of the fundamentals of aerodynamics. Start with the instructor's text featured below to reacquaint yourself with air pressure, fluid dynamics, Bernoulli's principle, and more.

The additional resources provide background reading for students and can be used to help explain scientific principles that are the foundation for many innovations in aeronautics. Many of the student resources offer activities that teachers may want to use in class.

---

For Teachers

Fundamentals of flight, instructor's text http://wings.avkids.com/Book/Fundamentals/instructor/index.html

Supplement your own knowledge of aerodynamics as it relates to flight with this online text. Explore gliding flight through examples of plants, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians. True flight is exemplified in nature by insects, birds, and bats. Also covered are specific principles such as aeronautics, movement of fluids, hydrodynamics, aerodynamics, measurements, and properties of air moving over objects. MSP full record

---

For Students

Fundamentals of flight, intermediate text http://wings.avkids.com/Book/Fundamentals/intermediate/index.html

Here's the student version of Fundamentals of Flight (see above). Some students may prefer to follow the advanced text. MSP full record for intermediate text and advanced text

Aerodynamics: What Causes Lift? http://www.teachersdomain.org/9-12/sci/phys/mfw/airfoil/index.html

Here's a brief explanation of lift, including Bernoulli's principle. There is also a media-enhanced essay that offers an additional explanation of lift, based on Newton's third law of motion. MSP full record

Beginner’s guide to aerodynamics http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/bga.html

In this broad overview of aerodynamics, each link takes students to self-paced targets of learning with diagrams that depict how aerodynamics affects objects such as airliners, model rockets, and kites. There is an explanation of Newton’s equations of motion and a review of properties in the atmosphere that influence aerodynamics. Teachers may want to review this site and use some of the activities with students. Please note that some of the links feature mathematical formulas that may be too complex for middle school students. MSP full record

Beginner’s guide to model rockets http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/bgmr.html

In this comprehensive guide, students can investigate the design and flight of rockets, the forces acting on rockets, and the gas properties that affect them. Activities provide practice questions and experiments. In one experiment, students demonstrate rocket flight by making paper rockets and propelling them with air blown through a straw. MSP full record

Three forces on a glider http://www.lerc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/glider.html

Because a glider has no engine, it depends on the forces of lift, drag, and weight, which are explained here. Students can also read about how a glider generates speed and stays aloft in the air for extended periods of time.(MSP full record)

How things fly http://www.nasm.si.edu/exhibitions/gal109/gal109.html

Can't take a class trip to Washington, D.C.? Students can enjoy a virtual tour of the flight exhibit at the National Air and Space Museum by clicking on the floor plan. Or they can follow the How Do Things Fly icon to see how airplanes, hot-air balloons, and the space shuttle lift into the air and maintain flight. Students can also explore the science behind how a wing works and how lift is produced, the nature of buoyancy, and laws associated with space travel. Digital pictures of the physical exhibits are provided as well, and a Resource Center link offers reading recommendations and activities.

---

 Back to top

Copyright March 2005 — The Ohio State University. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0424671. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.