Science Takes to the Air

Our airport field trip this week triggered an impromptu afternoon of air- and flight-related science experiments. Each student led one experiment.

Here we are testing racecar aerodynamics:


"Must...get...tasty...racecar..."

Discussing rising air currents and discovering that mobile shapes twirl faster when placed above a heat source:

Making a hot-air balloon to think about heat rising:
(This one was JPD's but he was camera-shy.)

Investigating what happens to a glass-enclosed candle in water (when the flame goes out, the water rises inside the glass!):

Making spinning helicopter blades to discuss how the air currents work:

This was a detour from our "regular" curriculum, but it still fit in well with our science theme of "Earth and Space." All these easy and cool experiments came from the book "Air, Wind, & Flight", from the library.