Amazing Air!
October 2009
Kimberly Reynolds
Note: This is the “transitional” program that will be in existence from the fall of 2009 until the learning spaces and auditorium open sometime in 2011. The reason for the change was to respond to curriculum changes and better nurture a creative-learning style among the students. The final version of the program however, is not possible to carry out until the necessary physical amenities have been constructed.
Creative Learning Approach
Guides will act as facilitators, creating an environment where students can discover for themselves various characteristics of air (e.g., air is a gas, air takes up space, air has mass), its uses and the relationship between humans and the air. This nurtures the creativity in each student and by virtue of the thought-processes each student will undertake, their absorption of the material being studied will be enhanced.
How is this accomplished?
Guides will perform some of the experiments as demonstrations. Each demonstration will use student volunteers but most importantly it will be the students who will theorize about what is happening and the guide who will affirm their observations.
Guides will set up and monitor activities such as kite-making and balloon-jet activities. An important aspect of these activities will be in how the guides bring the students back together after the activity so that they have the opportunity to once again theorize about their results and receive affirmations/clarifications.
The program also includes a guided tour. The tour however, will take the form of a conversation where both guide and students will ask and answer questions. At the start, with most groups, the guide will need to pose a question to get the ball-rolling but as the tour progresses, most of the queries will come from the students and the guide will facilitate by getting answers from the other students, teachers and parents as well as by explaining or giving some information to the class.
Program Schedule
This program can accommodate two groups concurrently and incorporates a snack time. Times shown are for illustration purposes – what is important is the length of time at each station (shown in parenthesis).
Group A / Group B10:00 (60 min.) / Experiments / Tour
11:00 (10 min.) / Snack / Snack
11:10 (60 min.) / Tour / Experiments
Locations
Locations are specified on the guide schedule but the standard locations are:
- Experiments –MezzanineCafé
- Snack – Demo Stage Tables
- Tour – Museum Floor
When the group arrives, have them put their snacks, (if they have them), into the labelled Rubbermaids and tell the teachers where to put them.
Experiential Learning Segment
Total Duration: 60 minutes
Preparation time: At least an hour
Introduction
Start by settling the group in the mezzanine café area. Welcome them to the museum and introduce yourself (in case not everyone heard your name in the lobby as you were bringing them in). Explain that today’s program includes lots of fun activities as well as a chance to visit the airplanes and that you are going to encourage them to ask lots of questions and make comments but that you need them to remember to use indoor voices and raise their hands when they want to speak.
Question:What is air?
Answers will vary and there is no need to give them a final definition at this point. Tell them that the point of today’s experiments is for them to discover some things about air.
Explain that scientists ask themselves questions, come up with what they think the answer is and then do tests to see if they are right or wrong.
Question:Does air take up space?
Again, answers will vary and at this point you should not tell them yes or no. Instead, tell them that as scientists, we need to do an experiment to see whether or not air takes up space.
1.Fish tank experiment
Goal: Students will see that air has volume (takes us space).
Materials:
-Fish tank (or large container)
-A glass
-Water
-Paper towel (small piece rolled in a ball)
-Tape
Prepare Ahead:
-Fill a fish tank 2/3 of the way up with water.
-With tape, stick a ball of paper towel to the bottom of the glass.
Question:What is in this glass?
Answers = paper towel and hopefully someone will say air.
Question:Is I turn the glass upside and put it into the water, what will happen?
Answers will vary. Don’t give any feedback, instead say we’ll find out.
Demonstration Instructions:
-Invert the drinking glass and push it into the water, trapping air inside the glass.
-Students will observe the trapped air inside the glass and that the paper towel did not get wet. (But don’t say anything about that just yet, leave it for the end)
-Bring the glass straight out to show that the paper towel is not wet.
-Repeat the inversion / submersion of the glass.
-Slightly tip the glass to allow a bubble of air to escape and float to the surface of the water.
Question:What just happened? What was that bubble?
Answers will vary but what we are driving at is that the bubble was air and that this proves that the air that has volume within the glass. The air, as it moves out of the glass, is replaced by the water proving air takes up space.
Next, explain that they will all get a chance to do another experiment to prove that air takes up space. Tell that that when you give them the word, they can open the boxes on their table and that their challenge is to use what they just learned about air (e.g. that it has volume and takes up space), to move a book!
2. Moving objects with air
Goal: Students will understand that air is matter and cannot occupy the same space as other objects.
Materials:
-Ziploc bags
-Straws
-Tape
-Pencil to make hole in bag
-Books
How to solve the challenge:
-With the pencil (or pen), make a small hole near the opening of the Ziploc bag.
-Push the straw through the hole (about half way).
-Seal the hole with tape.
-Close the Ziploc bag.
- Put the bag under a book, leaving the straw to sticking out over the edge of the table.
-Blow through the straw to inflate the bag.
Allow the students a few minutes to try to figure out for themselves what they should do. Depending on how things are going, start to give parents some instructions so they can start guiding them to the solution. Once one group gets it they will start working off that group and things will start to move faster. Once everyone seems to have succeeded, ask them to put all the material back in the bins and resettle them again.
Question:What did you learn?
Answers will vary with most kids starting by explaining the process they discovered. What you need to lead them to understand is that as air was pushed in the Ziploc bag, the air particles became more and more crowded. The air particles pushed against each other and inflated the bag (because they had no way to escape), which lifted the book. A book can’t float in the air on its own because there are not enough squished air particles to support it.
Question:If air takes up space, do you think it weighs anything?
Answers will vary but there is no need to give any feedback at this time.
3. Air has weight
Goal: Demonstrate that air has weight that is pushing down on us at all times.
Materials:
-30 cm ruler
-Several sheets of newspaper (the larger, the better)
-Table
Preparation:
-Place the ruler on the edge of the table, with about 1/3 sticking out over the edge.
-Cover the rest of the ruler with several sheets of newspaper.
Question:If I hit the ruler what will happen?
Answers will vary. Provide no feedback, just do it.
Instructions:
-Hit the part of the ruler that is sticking out from the table, as if you wanted to fling the newspaper across the room.
Result:
-You won’t be able to fling the papers.
Question:What happened?
Answers will vary but the explanation is that at rest, there is a lot of air sitting on top of the newspaper since it has a large surface area. When we try to move the newspaper sheets quickly, all the air sitting on them has to be lifted. The newspaper sheets are not strong enough to lift all that air. This proves that air has weight. If it didn’t, the newspaper sheets would have been flung across the room.
[Note: Leave the material for this demonstration accessible so that if there are points during the kite and balloon-jet activities where kids are done early, their grown-up can take them over to try it. Explain this to the group as well.]
Now that we know that air takes up space and that air can move things and has weight, we are gong to do a few experiments so that we can learn more about what air can do.
Question:What do we call it when air is moving fast?
Answer = wind (technically air is always moving but we generally apply the term wind to a noticeable feeling so we use the term “fast” here more to help the kids relate to the concept).
Now, we’ve already seen air and do stuff – we saw it lift a book.
Question:What else do you think air (particularly wind) can do?
Answers will vary. Use their answers to introduce that the next two activities: building a kite and testing balloon-jet. Try to help them come around to connect air with flight (e.g., using super super fast air moving in one direction to help propel a jet airplane in the other).
Explain to the group that they are going to make kites of their own.
Show the group the model kite and ask them what they think the air does. Answers will vary but try to lead them to understanding that kites are heavier than air and depend on wind to fly. The wind is just movement of air in the sky. The movement of air (or wind) going past the kite creates lift, allowing the kite to fly even though it is heavier than air. This is very similar to how airplanes fly.
4A.Building a simple Kite
Goal: Moving air, like the wind, can create lift which allows objects such as kites to fly.
Materials:
-Kite template
-Stapler (or tape)
-String
-Hole puncher or pencil to punch a hole in the paper
Instructions:
-Fold template paper in half along the line. The line and letters should end up on the outside.
-Fold the top corners (the corners that are closer to point A) of the page to point A and staple them in place. Do not crease the paper. Just bend it back.
-Punch a hole at point B and attach the flying thread.
Once everyone has made their kite, split the group into two and have the teacher take one group to the center of the museum to test their kites. Tell them what time to meet you back at the balloon-jet station below the stairs.
Take the other half of the group downstairs. Have them put their kites along the wall for safe-keeping. Gather them in front of the balloon-jet testing area.
Next take out a balloon (unless you did the tour portion first in which case you’ve done this explanation already). Blow up the balloon and ask what will happen when you let it go. Don’t explain what is going on at this point. Divide them into groups and let everyone have a turn launching a balloon-jet.
4B. Balloon-jet Testing
Goal: Moving air (such as air coming out of a balloon) can move objects (such as a balloon or a jet plane) forward.
Materials:
-Balloons in various sizes
-Tape
-Balloon pump
-Kite reels
Instructions:
-Tie the end of the string to a loop on the wall (just like what we do in Jet Pack)
-Unroll the string and bring the straw along with you.
-Inflate a balloon but don’t tie it. Hold it shut with your fingers.
-Carefully tape the balloon to the straw.
-Let go and observe.
After everyone has had a turn, gather them back and focus their attention.
Question:So what happened? Why do you think that happened?
Work with their answers to help them understand that all the air particles in the balloon are squished together and want to get out. When you let go of the balloon, the air particles rush out to a less crowded space. Because of all the air rushing out, the balloon is pushed forward. This is very similar to how jet engines work. If you haven’t done the tour yet, tell them they will see a jet and talk a little bit more about it on the tour.
If the first group has not come back yet, have the kids gather their kites and escort them to the centre and bring back the first group. Repeat the segment above for the second group.
Important! Make sure the teachers/parents know how long they have and where to meet for snack if they brought one. When you start the testing with the second group, tell them parents it would be a good time for someone to get the snack buckets and bring them to the tables at the demo stage.
Snack should be quick – 10 minutes max. Clean up as best as you can – have the parents return the rubbermaids with their lunch boxes to the front and meet you at the Silver Dart for the start of the tour.
Tour
Duration: 60 minutes
Objectives:Transportation Technology (covered passively)
Design and manufacture of aircraft (structures)
- Aerodynamics – changes made to take better advantage of the properties of air.
- “Moving Air” game or the experiment with big sheets of paper.
Impact of humans activities on air
- Tie in with design – how aircraft have improved to pollute less
How humans depend on air (air travel)
- What we use aircraft for (war, rescue, speedy travel, trade etc…)
- Game: “What Does This Plane Do?”
The tour also introduces/reinforces (depending on the order of delivery), some of the concepts covered in the experiments such as the power of air (wind).
Materials:
Crown for King Minos.
“Wings” for the birds, Daedalus and Icarus.
A picture of the sun.
Pictures of things that fly (kites, gliders, hot air balloons, blimps, airplanes, helicopters etc…)
Introduction:
Why do we talk about air at a plane museum? We need air to fly.
What else flies? Birds. They need air too. In fact, people got the idea for airplanes by watching birds and trying to make wings.
We’re going to act out a little story about people a long long time ago who dreamed of flying like birds.
This is the storyof a man named Daedalus andhis son Icarus.
[Get the class to sit in a circle. Pick a volunteer to be Daedalus, one to be Minos, a couple to be guards and one to be Icarus and a couple more to be birds, one to be the sun and the rest to be the ocean waves.].
Once upon a time there was a man named Daedalus. Among other things, he was an inventor. He worked for King Minos. But one day he made the king really really mad! [Get the “king” to show a really angry face, stomp his feet etc…].
The king decided to punish Daedalus but locking him and his son, Icarus up in a tower. [Get the “king” to call for the guards and have the guards bring Daedalus and Icarus to the prison – which could be a circle of parents in middle of the circle of kids].
Daedalus looked out the window and saw that he was surrounded by the ocean. The king had power over the ocean [have the “king” wave his hand and get the “ocean” to put their hands in the air and sway back and forth like the sea during a storm”]. Daedalus knew they could not escape by sea.
Then Daedalus saw birds flying out the tower window and got an idea, [have the birds fly past the window and get Daedalus to say “I have an idea!”].
He built two pairs of wings out of wax and bird feathers and gave one to Icarus, saying ‘Do not fly too close to the sun, for its heat will melt the wax.’ [Give them the wings and help them put them on.]
Daedalus and Icarus escaped [get the parents to let them fly out] but Icarus was having too much fun [have them fly around the class a little] and he wanted to fly higher and higher. He floated on the air [get the class to “blow”] and soon found himself flying right up to the sun [lead him over to the sun]. But, just like his father told him, the wax melted and Icarus fell into the sea [remove the wings and have Icarus sit down].