Summary: in This Quick and Easy Activity, Students Improve a Twirling Helicopter Design

Twirling Helicopter Grade Level: 3-5 Time: 45 minutes Summary: In this quick and easy activity, students improve a twirling helicopter design. Materials: Pattern of twirling helicopter Scissors Paper clip Stop watch Meter stick Content: Students improve upon an existing design, an important part of the invention process. Students work like engineers by refining, testing, and evaluating their work. Students measure the time it takes the twirling helicopter to drop from a standard height.

Teacher Notes: The design of a twirling helicopter is found below. Students will explore ways to slow the descent of the helicopter. Put students in groups of 3 or 4. Review the use of a stop watch or timer. You could have a twirling helicopter drop contest at the end of this activity. Prepare a standard drop point from which each group drops their twirling helicopter. Have several students check the time of the descent. Record times on the classroom board. Twirling Helicopter Procedure: 1. The Entertainment America company builds rides for amusement parks. Engineers at Entertainment America are developing a new ride called the Twirling Helicopter. The object of this ride is to carry a passenger from the top of the tower to the ground very slowly. However, their current design model is descending too fast. Your class has been asked to build a model of a Twirling Helicopter that descends slowly. To get started, get a pattern of a twirling helicopter and assemble it using these directions: a. Cut the two flaps or rotors of the helicopter along the solid line between A and B. b. Fold one flap forward and the other backward along the dotted line. c. Cut along the solid lines at C and D. Fold the two flaps inward at the dotted line. d. Fold up the bottom edge. Attach the paper clip to the bottom of the paper to hold the flaps in the center. 2. Test the model to see how long it takes it to descend. To do so: a. Hold up the twirling helicopter as high as possible. Use the meter stick to measure the height. Record the height on the Design Handout. b. Drop the helicopter and time its descent until it hits the floor. c. Write down the time it takes the helicopter to hit on the floor on the Design Handout. Repeat the drop two more times until you have three measurements. Average the measurements. 3. Now it’s your turn. Can you think of a way to make the helicopter drop slower? Write your ideas on the Design Handout. 4. Get another pattern of the twirling helicopter and make the change you recorded on the Design Handout. 5. Drop your helicopter from the same height as before. Time the twirling helicopter’s descent until it hits the floor. Write the time on the Design Handout. Repeat the drop two more times until you have three measurements. Average the measurements. 6. Continue to experiment with your helicopter until it is dropping as slowly as possible. 7. On your Design Handout, write a letter to Entertainment America explaining how you designed a Twirling Helicopter that descends slowly.

Twirling Helicopter Design Handout

Name ______Date ______Group members ______

1. Write down the height from which you drop the twirling helicopter. ______

2. Write down the time it takes the helicopter to reach the floor: First trial ______Second trial ______Third trial ______Average ______

3. How will you change your twirling helicopter to make it fall at a slower rate? ______

______

4. After you have changed your helicopter, write down the time it takes the helicopter to reach the floor: First trial ______Second trial ______Third trial ______Average ______5. Write a letter to Entertainment America. Explain how your changes caused the twirling helicopter to slow as it descended. Pattern for the Twirling Helicopter