Title: Crafting Hovercraft
Purpose: In this exercise, students will experiment with alternative methods of flight by creating their hovercraft. Students will explore friction and air cushions by designing their own floating devices.
Description: Students will build a standard CD and balloon hovercraft in order to physically experiment with low-friction crafts. After seeing what makes hovercrafts successful, they will design their own hovercraft with the goal of traveling the furthest distance.
Materials:
- Balloons
- CD
- Hot Glue
- Tape
- PVC pipe section/coupler
- Straws
- Foam core
.Instructions: This exercise is broken into 4 parts
- Standardized Design - Students will individually fabricate their own CD and balloon hovercraft with the instructions provided.
- Rally 1 - Students will test their hovercraft and make observations about how their hovercraft moves compared to each other based on slight variations of attention to tolerances, and craftsmanship of construction.
- Customized Racers- Students in groups of two will have free reign to design a hovercraft with any parts on hand at NuVu. They will first create a sketch of their own design and then build their hovercraft based on the drawings. Students will predict how far and how fast their hovercraft will go!
- Hovercraft Rally! - Students from all sections will take turns launching their custom hovercraft designs across the floor to see who can go the fastest, and who can go the farthest!
Deliverables: Student groups will create a final post in the Responses tab and post:
- 2 photos of their standardized hovercraft (in the Photo Booth and on the ground) w/ predictions and analysis
- Sketches of their custom hovercraft design
- 2 photos of their custom hovercraft (in the Photo Booth and in on the race track) w/ predictions and analysis