Flight School 3: Helicopter (Thrust)

This resource is a the third of a set of five lesson plans with STEM activities based around a group of 10-12 year olds, wanting to get their ‘wings’ from Flight School, by completing activities on forces associated with flight.

In this third session students are introduced to the force THRUST while building on their understanding of LIFT. This session is designed to allow the students to experiment with design to create a ‘mini helicopter model’. By the end of the lesson the goal is that the students will have an understanding of THRUST and LIFT in relation to flight.

Other sessions involve DRAG, LIFT, WEIGHT), and the fifth AEROPLANE pulls together all the learning. The sixth section contains the learner self-evaluation and learning log which has also been included in this bundle.

This bundle includes: extensive teacher notes bundle includes pdf and editable versions of the following:
• Teaching Notes - contents for each lesson includes:
• Science behind the lesson
• Materials best for the session
• Parachute shapes
• Plenary responses

List of resources specific for this lesson.
• Main Lesson Plan (as a PowerPoint Resource)
• Learning goals
• Overview
• Set Up
• Task
• Plenary and Feedback

Learning outcomes in the Curriculum for Excellence and associated benchmark

SCN 2-08a: I have collaborated in investigations to compare magnetic, electrostatic and gravitational forces and have explored their practical applications.

TCH 2-04b: I am developing dexterity, creativity and confidence when working with textiles.

MTH 2-16b: Through practical activities, I can show my understanding of the relationship between 3D objects and their nets.

LIT 2-02a: When I engage with others, I can respond in ways appropriate to my role, show that I value others’ contributions and use these to build on thinking.

Flight School has been created as a teaching resource for the City of Edinburgh Council’s ‘Curiosity Club’, an Intervention Strategy initiative that is currently operating in Council schools.

This resource was created as part of the GeoScience Outreach Course, which is a 4th year undergraduate course in the School of GeoSciences aiming to provide students with the opportunity to develop their own science communication and engagement project.

Author: Joanna Barrie, adapted by Kay Douglas and Charlie Farley.

Unless otherwise stated, all content is released under a CC-BY-SA 4.0 license.