Future Flights: Imagine Your Own Flying Machines!
This silent efficient low-emissions commercial transport aircraft design looks ordinary but is an advanced aircraft that may be in service in 2030.Copyright 2020 NASA/Northrop Grumman, Wikimedia Commons http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Northrop_Grumman_SELECT_concept_2010.jpg
As a conclusion to the Airplanes unit, this lesson encourages students to think creatively. After learning about the invention process and reviewing the concepts learned in the unit, they conduct the open-ended associated activity. Student teams design their own flying machines based on their knowledge of the forces involved in flight, the properties of given materials, and the ways in which their flying machine might benefit society. Students learn first-hand how the brainstorming process contributes to imaginative thinking and inventing—a technique engineers use to come up with new products or alter existing products.
When designing new airplanes, engineers often use idea-generating techniques such as brainstorming. Since engineers almost always work in teams, the ability to work together to come up with ideas and solutions is very important. Engineers share their thoughts and build upon each other's ideas to come up with creative design solutions. Not only do engineers need to be able to apply their knowledge to solve a problem, but they also need to be able to communicate their knowledge and ideas to their team members to effectively brainstorm.
After this lesson, students should be able to:
- Work in a group to brainstorm ideas.
- Describe the invention design process.
- List some important inventions and inventors in history.
- Describe how engineers use the invention process.
- Design an airplane that takes into account relevant scientific principles of flight.