Paper planes and their launchers

By Merryn Burgess

In our topic we are learning about WW2. One of the things we did inside of that topic is, learning about the R.A.F. planes and the air force.

This week we did a STEM lesson and made paper planes and launchers!

The first thing we did was make the planes. Mrs Emslie showed us a step by step PowerPoint on how to make the paper planes. It was a little bit challenging at first but when we got into the groove of making them it was quite easy.

The next thing we did was make the launchers. Mrs Emslie also had a step by step PowerPoint on how to do the launchers. The launchers were a bit easier than the planes (and used less brain power).

Next, it was time for decoration! Every one got to work making their planes almost identical to the R.A.F. planes by looking at images of planes from WW2 (it was so much fun). Saoirse and Mia made theirs camouflaged, so that if their planes were on a secret mission they would be harder to see. While others made theirs black and grey, Isla even made hers rainbow!

The Final step was to test the planes. We had 3 rounds, they were: original design and launcher, modifications and launcher and throwing the plane by hand. The winner of the first round (original design and launcher) was Merryn Burgess with a distance of 7m 45cm. The winner of the second round (modifications and launcher) was Grace Morrison with a distance of 8m 60cm. Finally, the winners of the third round (throwing the plane by hand) was Saoirse Robinson 13m 90cm and Andrew Smith 13m 60cm.

There was also a bonus round for best decorated plane. After a lot of consideration from Mo (our janitor) the winner of best decorated plane was Merryn Burgess.

This was a fun activity testing our skills on trial and error, hand eye coordination, time management, understanding aerodynamics, patience and focus, creativity, problem solving and using the right modifications. I can’t wait for our next fun activity!