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Balloon Hovercraft Project 3 Geoffrey
Lottenberg |
Basic engineering principle:
-Demonstrates the movement of a object by thrust/air propulsion.
What the students do: -Design and construct a balloon powered hovercraft using a CD and a restricted amount of balloons. -Basic design is a CD with a film canister attached to it. -Students can achieve forward movement opening holes in the film canister, and by using straws as thrusters to direct the air flow in any direction. -The students are given an option as to what combination of balloons, straws, or just open holes to use in their design. -The also have to determine the best arrangement and location of balloons to make their structure move through the set goal in the shortest period of time. -This is a competition using teams of 2-3students. |
Materials Needed: -Straws -Super Glue -Tape -Balloons of assorted sizes. -Students can bring in CDs to assemble their hovercraft. -A spool or film canister maybe used to slip the balloon over to propel the craft. -A thin but sturdy plastic disc will be manufactured for the teacher's model. |
FULL INSTRUCTIONS TO COMPLETE THIS ACTIVITY CAN BE FOUND IN THE TEACHER'S AND STUDENT WORKSHEETS. THIS PROVIDES ALL NECESSARY INFORMATION TO COMPLETE THE ACTIVITY IN 40 MINUTES OR LESS.
Necessary Documents:
For the STUDENT WORKSHEET click here (PDF).
For the TEACHER'S GUIDE click here(PDF).
Pictures of students testing this activity can be found here.
Age Group:
-This competition
is designed for 4th graders and above.
What the students will learn:
-The students will learn the basic concept of thrust, most commonly seen in air/space travel.
-The overall goal is to see which group's hovercraft can travel through the goal in the shortest amount of time.
-They will also learn which arrangement was the best of all the groups. This furthers their understanding of application of thrust in engineering design.
Teachers Demo:
Below are CAD drawings of our designed and tested teachers demonstration model. It uses an electrical fan and a hand milled peice of thin plexiglass.
Other information:
-This is a fun project that uses motion, speed, and a goal in order to engage the students.
-The balloons are simple, easy to use, colorful, safe for use indoors or outdoors, durable, and fun.
-The design is fairly simple, but the students have a chance to change it and use trial and error in the arrangement of the balloons to solve the problem.
-Balloons and cardboard are cheap and easily found around the house.
-The students will spend a majority of class time designing, constructing, and testing their hovercraft. The race only takes a short time.
-Pieces are small and simple, will not take up much space.