Escolha uma trilha de STEM e comece a criar

Think Like a Scientist and Engineer · 45-60 minutes

Objetivo da aula

How do scientists and engineers figure out what is true and make their ideas better?

Materiais

2 sheets of paper · Scissors · A ruler · A few paper clips · A timer or phone stopwatch · A safe spot to drop from, like standing next to a chair (with an adult)

Explicação

A scientist is anyone who asks a careful question about the world and then finds a way to test the answer instead of just guessing. An engineer takes what scientists learn and uses it to build and improve things that solve problems. Both of them use the same trick: they change one thing, test it, watch what happens, and try again. This week you will drop a paper helicopter - a folded paper twirler that spins as it falls - and figure out how to make it fall as slowly as you can. To do that, you cannot just guess. You have to run a fair test: keep everything the same except the one thing you want to study, so you know exactly what changed the result.

Atividade

Paper Helicopter Drop Test. Ask: Which paper helicopter will fall the slowest? That is the question you are testing.

Pergunta de reflexão

Draw your best paper helicopter and write one sentence about what made it fall the slowest.