The Great Paper Plane Race!

The big question: How far can we make a paper plane fly? 

Many of you may have noticed this year, that making paper planes has become a very popular pastime for kids in Alveare! This was what inspired us for this terms maths inquiry.

We began by forming small groups and asking ourselves these questions to begin our inquiry:
1. What is it that we have to do?
2. What do we know about paper planes?
3. What do we need to know or find out to be able to do this?
4. Are there any decisions that we have to make?
5. What do we need to do first?

'You don't make the plane heavy if you do it won't float. Make it more straight. Make the plane small and the wings bigger so it can fly further. I know that we need to know that you have to make the nose straight so then it will fly really well. You also need to make the wing so it is wide and the smaller the plane is the better.'

We then spent the next week designing and testing our planes. 

The 'Traffic Lights' thinking routine helped us to think about what worked well and what we would need to improve next time. 

The next week was race day! The new building with no furniture provided us with the perfect space to fly our planes and measure the distance that they flew. 

We had to record our data to find out which plane flew the furthest, and then discussed why that might be? 

Overall, what have we learnt from our paper planes inquiry?

Our maths inquiry will continue to focus on measurement for the next coming weeks, so stay tuned!

123 Alveare.