INVESTIGATION: PAPER AIRPLANES & MEASUREMENT • GRADE 3 S E C T I O N 4 NJ ASK PREP Mathematics Investigation: Paper Airplanes & Measurement Grade 3 Benchmark 3 Geometry & Measurement This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 444 Castro Street, Suite 900, Mountain View, California, 94041, USA. B3: GEOMETRY & MEASUREMENT ©2012 LOTI • PAGE 1 INVESTIGATION: PAPER AIRPLANES & MEASUREMENT • GRADE 3 Investigation: Teacher’s Notes Paper Airplanes & Measurement Math Strands: 3 3 Geometry and Measurement Number and Numerical Operations New Jersey Core Content Curriculum Standards: STANDARD 4.2 (Geometry and Measurement): All students will develop spatial sense and the ability to use geometric properties, relationships, and measurement to model, describe and analyze phenomena. STANDARD 4.1 (Number and Numerical Operations): All students will develop number sense and will perform standard numerical operations and estimations on all types of numbers in a variety of ways. Purpose of the Lesson: BIG IDEA: Select and use appropriate standard units of measure and measurement tools to solve real-life problems. STUDENTS: The purpose of this lesson is to use appropriate standard units of measure and measurement tools to solve real-life problems. TEACHER: The purpose of this lesson is for you to facilitate a lesson focusing on standard units of measure with special emphasis on mathematical problem-solving. Background: Humankind has always been intrigued by flight starting with the first flight of the Wright Brothers on December 17th, 1903. For those who cannot afford to fly their own airplane, the construction of paper airplanes can provide an easy, low cost solution. In this investigation, students will apply their use of measurement in a Paper Airplane Contest as they attempt to land their paper airplane the closest distance to a stationary target. PAGE 2 • ©2012 LOTI B3: GEOMETRY & MEASUREMENT INVESTIGATION: PAPER AIRPLANES & MEASUREMENT • GRADE 3 Materials: 3 Rulers (metric or English) 3 Yard or meter sticks 3Pencils 3Scissors 3 Grid paper 3Video: YouTube—Amazing Take Off and Landing on an Aircraft Carrier http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hr9UslkGx78 3Video: YouTube—F-14 Landing on an Aircraft Carrier http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZvM4sEsMq4 3Website: How to Make a Paper Airplane http://www.howcast.com/videos/153-How-To-Make-a-Paper-Airplane 3PowerPoint: Paper Airplane & Measurement 5E Model - Engagement (Focus): ESTIMATED TIME: 10 minutes ESSENTIAL QUESTION: How can airplanes land on an aircraft carrier? PROPOSED PROCEDURE: STEP 1: Show students Slides 1-3 from the Paper Airplane & Measurement PowerPoint. Tell students that their task will be to land a plane on a make-believe aircraft carrier in the classroom. STEP 2: Next, show students the video, F-14 Landing on an Aircraft Carrier, to help them understand the difficulty of landing a jet on a small runway. NOTE: The video appears as a link in Slide 4 of the Paper Airplane & Measurement PowerPoint. STEP 3: Show students Slides 5-10 from the Paper Airplane & Measurement PowerPoint of future aircraft designs. Have them discuss the pros and cons of these future designs in terms of comfort and flying ability. 5E Model - Exploration: ESTIMATED TIME: 15 minutes ESSENTIAL QUESTION: Can I design a paper airplane? PROPOSED PROCEDURE: STEP 1: Have students share the best ways to make paper airplanes, then supply each pair with several sheets of grid paper. B3: GEOMETRY & MEASUREMENT ©2012 LOTI • PAGE 3 INVESTIGATION: PAPER AIRPLANES & MEASUREMENT • GRADE 3 STEP 2: Show students Slides 11-13 from the Paper Airplane & Measurement PowerPoint of some different types of paper airplanes. Next, have them work in pairs to construct as many airplanes as they wish, but only one may be entered into the upcoming Paper Airplane Contest. NOTE: In this contest, students attempt to fly their paper airplane and land it closest to a target representing an aircraft carrier at sea. DIFFERENTIATION: If students are not familiar with constructing a paper airplane, show the video, How to Make a Paper Airplane, and/or distribute Handout 1 that provides the steps for constructing a standard paper airplane. NOTE: The video appears as a link in Slide 14 of the Paper Airplane & Measurement PowerPoint. 5E Model - Explanation: ESTIMATED TIME: 15 minutes ESSENTIAL QUESTION: What do I know about measurement? PROPOSED PROCEDURE: STEP 1: Tell students that the upcoming Paper Airplane Contest will require each of them to submit a Airplane Blueprint that will require them to measure the length of their plane, width at the tail, depth at the tail, and perimeter of the wing surfaces. DIFFERENTIATION: Have the group of students needing additional assistance with measurements complete a learning center activity. Allow them to work through any one of the following interactive applets to reinforce their understanding of the math content: • National Library of Virtual Manipulatives (Grades 3-5) http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/grade_g_2.html • Utah Education Network – 3-6 Interactives http://www.uen.org/3-6interactives/math.shtml • Create a Graph http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/createagraph/ • The Ruler Game http://www.rickyspears.com/rulergame/ 5E Model - Elaboration: ESTIMATED TIME: Open-ended ESSENTIAL QUESTION: How close can I land my plane? PROPOSED PROCEDURE: STEP 1: Tell students that they will be participating in the Paper Airplane Contest. PAGE 4 • ©2012 LOTI B3: GEOMETRY & MEASUREMENT INVESTIGATION: PAPER AIRPLANES & MEASUREMENT • GRADE 3 STEP 2: Have students complete the construction of their final design of a paper airplane for the contest. STEP 3: Have students complete the blueprint and specifications for their airplane using Handout 2. STEP 4: Have students record the performance of each of the contestants using Handout 3. In this step, students will need to measure the distance of each landed plane from the target as well as identify any special features about each plane. NOTE: As an extension, have students enter their data into an online graphing program such as Create a Graph and graph their data to compare landing distances. NOTE: In lieu of measuring the landing distance to the target, students could also measure the following: • flying time using a stop watch • distance flown using a ruler • carrying capacity over a minimum distance based on the number of paper clips 5E Model - Evaluation: ESTIMATED TIME: 5 minutes ESSENTIAL QUESTION: What did I learn about measurement? PROPOSED PROCEDURE: STEP 1: Have students complete the Exit Card in Handout 4. B3: GEOMETRY & MEASUREMENT ©2012 LOTI • PAGE 5 INVESTIGATION: PAPER AIRPLANES & MEASUREMENT • GRADE 3 Handout 1: Standard Paper Airplane Name: ____________________________________ Use the steps below to build a standard paper airplane. BUILD A STANDARD MODEL: STEP 1 STEP 2 Fold a sheet of paper the size of this page in half. Unfold the paper and smooth it out. Now fold in each corner. The inside edges should line up with the center crease. Fold each side of the plane to the center as shown. The inside edges should line up with the center crease. STEP 3 STEP 4 Fold the plane in half by bringing the wings together. Measure up 2 cm (1”) from the bottom edge and draw a straight line. Do the same on the other side of the plane. Fold the wings down along the straight lines you drew in Step 3. Make sharp creases and then open the fold. Finally, put a piece of tape tightly across the top so the wings pull together. PAGE 6 • ©2012 LOTI B3: GEOMETRY & MEASUREMENT INVESTIGATION: PAPER AIRPLANES & MEASUREMENT • GRADE 3 Handout 2: Paper Airplane Blueprint Name: ____________________________________ Complete the Paper Airplane Blueprint below. 1. Make a sketch of your airplane. 2. What is the length of your airplane (in inches)? _____________________________ 3. What is the width of the tail (in inches)? ____________________________________ 4. What is the depth at the tail (in inches)? ____________________________________ 5. What is the perimeter of the wing surfaces (in inches)? HINT: The perimeter is the distance around the wings. _________________________________ 6. What special features about your airplane will help you land closest to the target?_______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________ B3: GEOMETRY & MEASUREMENT ©2012 LOTI • PAGE 7 INVESTIGATION: PAPER AIRPLANES & MEASUREMENT • GRADE 3 Handout 3: Paper Airplane Contest Records Name: ____________________________________ Keep a record of each airplane’s landing distance from the target and any special features about each airplane. Name PAGE 8 • ©2012 LOTI Distance from Target (in inches) Features of the Plane B3: GEOMETRY & MEASUREMENT INVESTIGATION: PAPER AIRPLANES & MEASUREMENT • GRADE 3 Handout 4: Exit Card Name: ____________________________________ Complete the questions below: 1. What area gave you the most difficulty today? 2. Something that really helped me in my learning today was… 3. Something I still don’t understand is…? 4. What connection did you make today that made you think, “AHA, I get it!” B3: GEOMETRY & MEASUREMENT ©2012 LOTI • PAGE 9 INVESTIGATION: PAPER AIRPLANES & MEASUREMENT • GRADE 3 PAGE 10 • ©2012 LOTI B3: GEOMETRY & MEASUREMENT