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, whether they are elliptical (like 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? Name______Partner______Date______page 1 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 the yearsBird to Beak help the Adaptations bird survive in whatever environment they are in. Here areBird’s some beaks areexamples shaped according of different to the food bird they beaks eat. or bills.

MaterialBird beaks - Type are great of examplesBeak or of “simpleBill machines”. Other examples of simple machines that you may have 1. Strongseen or jaw used with yourself a curved are ramps, beak scissors, ( hammers,Clothespins) 2. Pointedlevers, and long pulleys. beak We use(Forceps simple machines, Tweezers, because or clothespins with they give us a “mechanical glued advantage,”on popcycle which sticks just to form long beak) means they help us push harder or faster than we 3. Scoopingwould be able beak 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. Usesystem, each or rollstype the of pianobeak up(cl othespin,a gentle ramp, tweezers/long she could , spoon) to pick up as liftmany it by ofherself. the food items as possible in one try. 2. Count the number of items the bird ate. 3. LeversRecord are the very data useful under simple the graph. machines. A lever can 4. Graphhelp you the lift data. something Remember very heavy to use (a the car-lifting right jack“scale” if there are not enough linesuses a on lever) the orgraph. move something faster than you usually could (a baseball bat is a 5. Answerlever). The the mechanical question. advantage that the lever gives you is based on the specific 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.