1. Flight Class Outline
Intro
Pray
5 minutes
A wise man of the courts of ancient Israel: Pv 30:18-19
It is so great to live today. Why? Because we can understand a little better the marvel of
flight!
5 min
Icebreaker/Name Game
Warm-up
5 minutes
Buddy up (I have the liberty of switching buddies at any point) =find a new partner
Buddy one (left) Buddy two (right)—two parallel lines
Buddy two back away from their partners (five) paces
Pass Frisbee [instruct
Stance, draw, release
Optional for older groups:
Prompts : as you throw think about one thing you wonder about flight(18sec)
Everyone have an Inquiry?
Now think about the physics behind your flying plastic disc. Why doesn’t it fall straight to
the ground when I let go? Why does it fly straight (or not)? (18 sec)
Remember your question about flight?
Discs on the ground between your feet.
The Five Forces of Flight
To the drawing board!
Optional for older groups who came up with inquiries:
Take a minute to write down your Inquiry! (together? Sticky notes? Answered questions =
Awesome Points!)

2. Lets see if we cannot extrapolate any answers…
5 minutes
We are going to introduce Five Forces of Flight to you today: GLTGD
With your buddy, I’ll give you (60) seconds to brainstorm—write ideas down! What could
these 5 Forces be?
I want to see lightning bolts zap between your ears; hear the thunder rumbling in you
noggins!
Compile by writing the acronym on a white board and listing their answers. (be liberal to
include “forces” they come up with!) Introduce the 5 Forces by using a different colored
marker to circle or add the correct forces.
F1: GYROSCOPIC MOVEMENT
First Force: Gyroscopic Movement (GM)
Gyroscopic? (take guesses, but don’t define for them yet!)
Buddy up—new partner!
5 minutes (with foot ball toss)
Stand next to a Frisbee
Buddy One left Buddy Two right
Buddy Two step back
Buddy One throw Frisbee.
Stop. Buddy two, throw the Frisbee to your buddy without spinning the disc! (Give
awesome points to the first student to think outside the box and walk unprompted to their
partner with their Frisbee!)
Now Buddy One try and make the Frisbee reach your buddy with out spinning it.
What happened? There was no gyroscopic movement. Gyroscopic movement has to do with
the spinning motion which stabilizes the object.
Collect the Frisbees
what else do you think uses GM to fly?
- helicopters, hummingbirds, arrows, missiles…
- fun fact: you us GM to stay upright on your bicycle!
Optional GM extension:
Football also uses GM, see…
Back to the drawing board
L2: LIFT
5-10min (with demo)
How does a Frisbee (or any wing) stay in the air?

3. Force 2: LIFT
What does the Frisbee travel through? Empty space? Matter—air.
Define matter. So does air have mass?
Here is my air {draw Air
((think fast {toss Frisbee: describe the shape of the Frisbee to me. (you’re looking for them
to tell you it has a rounded edge)
Here is my Frisbee {draw FB
It is travelling this direction (right), which means the air is flowing in which direction?
(left)
Which side of the FB has more surface area? Geometry scholars? (top)
Which means? Because the air must flow over more surface, the particles become less?
(dense)
This is what we call LOW PRESSURE {draw
Which leaves the air below at a--? (HIGH PRESSURE)
The LP air has a hard time keeping up with his buddy because he has a greater distance to
travel over the Frisbee (or wing). This means that air passing below the Frisbee (wing) is
travelling faster, thus providing a LIFTing force on the wing.
Optional Air Particle Demo (strongly recommended)
Buddy Up
Buddy One left, Buddy Two right
Lead Buddy One line as the HP air and challenge Buddy Twos to keep up as the lines move
around varying obstacles. HP line should travel smoothly “beneath” (past) an obstacle
while the LP line needs to walk “above” (around) the opposite side of the obstacle. Switch
to the other Buddy line to give each student a chance to be high and low pressure air.
Back to the drawing board!
F3: THRUST
5-10minutes (with gp diagram)
Who can remember Newton’s 3 Law of Physics? For every action… there is an equal and
opposite reaction. {demonstrate by flicking a pen, etc…
Force 3: THRUST
With your buddy brainstorm 3 reasons thrust is a vital force in flight.
Write each on a sticky note
Compile
We are going to use the principle of THRUST later on in this class
Optional Venn Diagram
Group Venn Diagram: Compare an airplane wing with bird wing. Work together! (give 2-
5minutes)
Evaluate—emphasize different modes of THRUST

4. F4: GRAVITY
>5min
The last two!
What does thrust directly oppose? (gravity)
Force 4: GRAVITY
What is gravity’s role?
What kind of flight do you have without thrust? (Gliding) GRAVITY keeps you in the air as it
pulls you against the mass of the air using DRAG and creating LIFT.
F5: DRAG
>5min
Force 5: DRAG (just like this class!)
NO! what do I mean by drag?
Friction of the air particles to create lower pressure and even turbulence.
Turbulence?
Aerodynamics?
It’s time to experiment!
Experimenting with Paper Airplanes
15-20minutes (with personalization)
Freedom of experimentation
Objectives: per student pages
Optional personalization of airplanes
>> By 60 MINUTES start working towards reviewing
Closure
5-10 min (with devo)
Excellent work
Remember the wise man? Who is still amazed by flight?
The keys of understanding.
Pass the keys to answer review questions.
Review:
GLTGD
Optional Devo Extension:

5. In what way has God used the mystery of flight to reveal Himself? Gen 1:20 Rev 19:17,
IKings 17:4, 6
Buddy Up—NEW buddy
stand over Frisbee, pass down—into box
Bottle Rockets
Rest of Class:
Each pair will get to prime and fire one rocket (ea. buddy If time allows)
Materials
Brainstorm cards & markers
Whiteboard &/ Note pad
Sticky notes
White board markers
Paper for airplanes
Bottle rocket stuff
Optional
Football
Balsa gliders
Markers/crayons for personalizing paper airplanes
A wing