Nicholas Brooks

With “How Things Fly,” Mr. Brooks and Ms. Coomer allow students to use their sense of adventure and discovery to understand the basic physics of flight. To begin to understand aerodynamics and aviation, students construct and test kites, hot air balloons, and rubber-band powered airplanes while recording and analyzing their experimental data. Exploring the four forces of flight and the necessity of equilibrium, students expand their study to balsa gliders. After students use simple straw rockets to learn about projectile motion, velocity, and trajectory angles, the project culminates with groups of students building and launching solid-fuel rockets.