Learning through play - Flight

Over the last few weeks we have been exploring the science of  flight during our learning through play time. This was something the children were interested in learning about, after a small group tried to make planes last term and wanted to know why they did not fly very far. 

We explored paper rocket ships and how we could use our breath to make them fly higher or further each time, some students even managed to control the direction their rockets flew by changing the angle of the straw and how hard they breathed. 

During the next week we made paper helicopters as our flying machines. These helicopters spun around and around as they fell to the ground after being thrown into the air. Next we made paper planes and learnt how we had to throw them gently and flat for them to fly the best. Some planes still managed to fly a loop before landing which added to the children’s questioning as to why they did that and how they could make theirs fly in that direction too.