Forty-one middle-school students recently designed and launched straw airplanes as part of Varnett’s challenging Aerospace Academy program.
Students created two different designs and compared the impact the designs had on the distance of flight. They used Flipgrid, a social learning platform that creates an online community where knowledge is shared and created. The video clips were then compiled into one production.
This project, the second this year for Aerospace Academy students, allowed students to engage in S.T.E.A.M., an educational approach to learning that uses Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Mathematics as access points for guiding student inquiry, dialogue, and critical thinking.
In the first project, students designed and launched Magnus gliders, spinning toys displaying looped trajectories when launched at velocity. A third project is upcoming.
Story by Ms. Stefany Lucas, District Middle School Math Content Specialist