Origami Planes

Very visual and interactive and simple to understand

Lesson idea. Geogebra has been used to produce an animated tutorial of an origami paper aeroplane). Once the plane has been made, experiments with throwing the plane show that it does not fly in a parabolic curve, as a ball would. An interactive geogebra spreadsheet shows how a ball would fall. Another geogebra spreadsheet demonstrates the flight trajectory of the plane. I have also produced a word document describing very simply, how the plane flies.

Teaching approach. This lesson features a ‘real life’ example for students to explore using visualisation^(ta) via GeoGebra. The focus on ‘real life’ increases student motivation.

The activity engages pupils in group talk^(ta), mathematical thinking^(ta) and vocabulary^(ta). This open ended^(ta) task encourages higher order^(ta) thinking, and encourages whole class^(ta) discussion^(ta)/questioning^(ta) and inquiry^(ta) projects.

Resource details
Title	Flying paper planes
Topic
Teaching approach
Learning Objectives
Format / structure	wiki page with downloadable .doc version
Subject
Age of students / grade
Table of contents
Additional Resources/material needed
Useful information
Related ORBIT Wiki Resources	This activity was a result of the GeoGebra STEM Exploration umbrella activity which asked students to develop 'real world' GeoGebra mathematical modeling applications which reach out to a wide range of users both students and teachers. It is described in their own words.
Other (e.g. time frame)
Files and resources to view and download	Here are two simple to use GeoGebra activities produced by the students which can be used to both understand flight and further stimulate new students. The first is an Origami tutorial: File:Origami.ggb The second shows flight: File:Plane.ggb
Acknowledgement
License