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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: 5. View YouTube clip titled Golden Eagle vs. Goat” 6. After viewing clip, write down changes they might want to make to

their original thoughts. 7. Using the contributing factors, students should find a testable

variable.

PAPER HELICOPTER TEMPLATE

EXPLORE

Teacher:1.Group students into groups of 2 to 42.Ask, “What can we change to make our helicopter fly longer?”3.Assign a student in each group jobs. (length, recorder, flyer, timer)

Student:4. Investigate how wing size will affect flight time by making a paper

helicopter (See Handout). 5.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.

6.In next trials, students should vary the wing length by 2cm until they record the longest flight time.

7.Plot data

EXPLAIN

Teacher: 1.Discuss the overall graph with the class using the following concepts

1. Scatter plots2.Lines of best fit3.Liner equations4.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: 2. Students should use the wing/body ratio to predict the new optimal

wing length of their new helicopter. 3. Follow the same instructions from the EXPLORE section except they

should run three trials per wing length and find the mean of the scores.

4. 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:2.Use the ration discussed in the EXPLORE portion to predict the weights

of the birds listed at the end of the data collection sheet. 3.Students can then research, using the library or internet, to determine

if their prediction was correct. 4.State clearly from research why you think your prediction was or was

not correct. Cite two pieces of evidence.