Paper Airplane Lab Experiment
Questions:
• Have you flown a paper airplane before? (Hopefully not
in this class)
• Do you always use the same type of paper?
• Do you always use the same design?
• Do you want it to fly straight or do tricks?
Introduction:
• We are going to design an experiment to test paper airplane
flight distance.
• We want the planes to fly as far as they can.
• We need to think about how we are going to design and
perform the experiment.
• What things do we need to think about? (Think about the
steps of the Scientific Method)
Problem:
• What question are we trying to answer?
• We want to design an experiment to test how the addition
of paper clips will affect the flight distance of the paper
airplane.
• How does adding paper clips to a paper airplane affect its
flight?
Hypothesis:
• What do you think is going to happen?
• How do you think the addition of paper clips to the paper
airplane affect its flight distance?
• Does the placement of the clips matter?
• If paper clips are added to the _(location)_ of the paper
airplane, then ___________
_________________________________.
Materials:
• What do we need to perform this experiment?
• Make a list of materials:
• Everything and anything we need to carry out the experiment.
Procedure:
• How are we going to perform the experiment?
•
•
•
•
•
•
What do we need to do?
What needs to be kept constant?
What is our control?
What is our independent variable going to be?
Where are we going to perform the experiment?
What are we going to observe? How?
• This should be written as a list of numbered steps.
Observations:
• Data Table with
measurements from the
experiment.
• Include headings and
labels.
# of paper
clips
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
Flight
Distance (m)
Experiment Day
1.
2.
3.
4.
Get paper clips, lab notebook and a meter stick.
Make the paper airplane. Make sure you follow directions.
Gather materials and head out to your assigned runway.
Fly your airplane, measure flight distance, and record your
data in your notebook. Remember to add a paper clip
each time.
Lab Report Write Up
• Must include:
Click on the lab
notebook to see a
sample lab report
• Title page: Title, name, period, date due
• Introduction: one paragraph about why we did this
experiment
• Problem: What question did we want to answer?
• Hypothesis: What you think will happen and why?
• Materials: A list of materials used
• Procedure: Step by step explanation of what you did to
perform the experiment. (Include airplane picture with
paper clips)
• Data Table and Graph: Include labels
• Conclusion: Explain your results
• Questions: Answer the questions about the lab in complete
sentences.
Making a graph
of your data
• Let’s review independent and dependent variables.
• The independent variable is what the scientist changes
during an experiment.
• The dependent variable is what happens due to what is
changed.
• Remember:
The growth of the
flower is
dependent upon
the amount of
water it receives.
Making the graph
1. Create a title.
3.
Determin
e interval
and label
for y-axis.
Flight Distance (meters)
How adding paper clips affects paper airplane
flight distance.
10
8
6
4. Plot your data.
4
5. Connect the data points.
2
0
0
1
2
3
4
Number of paper clips
5
2. Determine interval and label for x-
6
Conclusion:
• What did you learn during the experiment?
•
•
•
•
Does your data make sense?
Was your hypothesis correct? Explain why or why not?
Did you do anything wrong?
Is there anything that you would have or should have done
differently?
• Your conclusion should be 3 to 4 paragraphs long.
Questions:
1. What is a control? What was the control in this
experiment?
2. What is a constant? What were the constants in
this experiment?
3. What is an independent variable? What was the
independent variable in this experiment?
4. What is a dependent variable? What was the
dependent variable in this experiment?
5. Should your results be the same as others? Why
or why not?
The answers to the questions must be
in complete sentences!
Use buttons to navigate
through the lab report
Return to
write-up page
Introduction/ Purpose:
To practice using the steps of the Scientific Method. Design an
experiment and learn about constants and variables. Test the flight
of a paper airplane after adding paper clips.
Problem:
How does adding paper clips to a paper airplane affect its flight
distance?
Hypothesis:
If paper clips are added to the wings of the airplane, then the
airplane flight distance will decrease because the plane will weigh
more and not fly as far.
Return to
write-up page
Materials:
• paper
• masking tape
• 6 paper clips
• pencil or pen
• meter sticks
• marker
• notebook
Procedure:
1. Get paper and paper clips from table.
2. Make paper airplane following teacher’s directions.
3. Write your name on the airplane.
4. Gather notebook, writing utensil, meter sticks and
airplane and head out to your assigned runway.
5. Put down everything except your airplane.
6. Stand on the runway start line. Stand in the same place
each time.
Return to
write-up page
Procedure continued:
7. With the airplane in hand, pull your arm back and throw the
airplane down the runway. Make sure you throw it the same way
each time.
8. Measure the distance the airplane flew to the nose of the airplane
using the meter stick.
9. Record your data in your notebook and pick up your airplane. Also
record any problem you may have encountered. (Hitting people,
bending the nose)
10. Add a paper clip to the airplane. Make sure to add it to the same
place each time.
11. Repeat steps 6 – 11 for all 6 paper clips.
12. Pick up all of your materials and return to classroom.
13. Draw a picture of your airplane with the clips on it.
14. Return the meter sticks and paper clips and recycle your airplane.
Return to
write-up page
Observations:
During this experiment, the paper airplane with two paper clips
hit Suzie as she was walking by and I bent the nose. After this
occurred, the airplane always drifted to the right. I think that
changed the outcome of the experiment. I put the paper clips in the
same place each time and stood in the same place on the runway. I
believe that I also threw the plane with the same speed each time.
# of
paper
clips
Flight
Distance
(m)
0
4.53
1
6.23
4
2
7.14
2
3
7.52
4
6.59
5
5.34
6
5.67
Airplane Flight
Distance (m)
Airplane Flight Distance with Paper Clips
Addition
8
6
0
0
1
2
3
4
Number of Paper Clips
Return to
write-up page
5
6
Conclusion:
My data really does not have a pattern. The distance
increased and then it decreased. I think that the distance
should have kept increasing based on my first two data points,
but because I hit Suzie and bent the nose of the plane I am not
sure.
I need to be more careful. If you change the design of the
plane it will affect its flight distance. By hitting Suzie I change
the plane and therefore the experiment.
If I did the experiment again I would make sure no one was
on the runway when I threw the plane. It is also difficult to
measure the distance when other students are trying to fly
their planes.
This lab showed us how the steps of the Scientific Method
are used to solve a problem. I’m not sure I know the answer
to the question based on this experiment. Sometimes many
experiments need to be done to find the answer.
Return to
write-up page
Questions:
1. A control is ____________________________________. The
control in this experiment is ___________________
_____________________________________________.
2. A constant is something that ______________________ during an
experiment. The constant in this experiment is
_____________________________________________.
3. An independent variable is _________________________. The
independent variable in this experiment is __________
_______________________________________________.
4. A dependent variable is _________________________. The
dependent variable in this experiment is __________
_______________________________________________.
5. My results should be the same as everyone else because we used the
same paper and the same design.
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write-up page