ENGAGE
Teacher:
1. Ask “What factors contribute to eagles being successful hunters?”
2. After viewing YouTube video, ask the same question again for any changes in
thought.
3. Ask, “Do you thing the eagle would have been able to carry the goat effectively
if it had differences in body size, eyesight, talon size, or wing size?
4. Lead students to the idea that wing size is the most testable variable.
Student:
1. View YouTube clip titled Golden Eagle vs. Goat”
2. After viewing clip, write down changes they might want to make to their original
thoughts.
3. Using the contributing factors, students should find a testable variable.
PAPER HELICOPTER TEMPLATE
EXPLORE
Teacher:
1.Group students into groups of 2 to 4
2.Ask, “What can we change to make our helicopter fly longer?”
3.Assign a student in each group jobs. (length, recorder, flyer, timer)
Student:
1. Investigate how wing size will affect flight time by making a paper helicopter (See
Handout).
2.One student will record wing length, another will record information into a data
table, another will drop helicopter from fixed length, and another will time the length
of the fall.
3.In next trials, students should vary the wing length by 2cm until they record the
longest flight time.
4.Plot data
EXPLAIN
Teacher:
1.Discuss the overall graph with the class using the following concepts
1. Scatter plots
2.Lines of best fit
3.Liner equations
4.Domain/range
2.Introduce the concept of the Wing/Body Mass ratio (bird’s wing length : bird’s body
weight)
Student:
1.Answer the following questions:
1.Which length produced the longest flight time?
2.What is the best wing length for a bird of this size traveling a long distance?
3.Why?
EXTEND
Teacher:
1. Assign students a different number of paper clips to modify the mass of their
helicopters.
Students:
1. Students should use the wing/body ratio to predict the new optimal wing length
of their new helicopter.
2. Follow the same instructions from the EXPLORE section except they should run
three trials per wing length and find the mean of the scores.
3. Record new data on a similar coordinate plane.
EVALUATE
Teacher:
1.Facilitate discussion using the following questions
1.“Which length produced the longest flight time/less speed with the new
weight?”
2.“Which length produced the shortest flight time/faster speed?”
3.“Where your predictions accurate?”
4.“What is the best wing length for a bird traveling a far distance?”
Student:
1.Use the ration discussed in the EXPLORE portion to predict the weights of the birds
listed at the end of the data collection sheet.
2.Students can then research, using the library or internet, to determine if their
prediction was correct.
3.State clearly from research why you think your prediction was or was not correct.
Cite two pieces of evidence.