Forces of Flight

Contributor: Victoria Surface. Lesson ID: 10952

Lift, thrust, drag, weight, Newton, Bernoulli. Sounds like weight training, but they all combined in the Wright Brothers' first flight. Watch the actual flight film and create a model plane at home!

categories

Physics

subject
Science
learning style
Kinesthetic, Visual
personality style
Lion
Grade Level
Intermediate (3-5)
Lesson Type
Dig Deeper

Lesson Plan - Get It!

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Wright Brothers first flight 17 December 1903

It was an amazing flight for 1903!

  • How did the Wright brothers do it?

Man has long been interested in flight.

Many flying machines were tested in the early 19th century because of this quest and desire to fly. In 1903, the Wright Brothers were able to fly an airplane successfully.

They spent five years designing and testing a powered airplane that could fly instead of glide because they figured out the forces of aerodynamics.

Aerodynamics is about how objects, like airplanes and cars, can go smoothly and efficiently in the sky or on the road by understanding how air pushes against them.

In this lesson, you will discover the four aerodynamics forces and investigate how planes can fly.

First, watch the Wright Brothers' historic first flight in the video below.

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Now that you have watched the footage of the historic first flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, it's time to examine the forces of aerodynamics.

Watch the next video to take a closer look.

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After watching, move to the Got It? section.

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