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Full of Hot Air: Hot Air Balloon Building
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In this activity, learners create a model of a hot air balloon using tissue paper and a hairdryer. Educators can use this activity to introduce learners to density and its role in why things float.

FlyBy Math: Distance-Rate-Time Problems in Air Traffic Control
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In this small-group activity, learners assume the roles of pilots, air traffic controllers, and NASA scientists to solve five Air Traffic Control (ATC) problems.

Tumble Wing Walkalong Glider
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In this physics activity (page 2 of the PDF), learners will construct their own walkalong glider. They will explore how air, though invisible, surrounds and affects other objects.

Hot Air Balloon
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In this activity, learners build a hot air balloon using just a few sheets of tissue paper and a hair dryer.

Stomp Rocket
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In this activity, learners build rockets and shoot them into the air by stomping on the plastic bottle launchers.

Handheld Water Bottle Rocket & Launcher
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In this activity, learners build handheld rockets and launchers out of PVC pipes and plastic bottles. Use this activity to demonstrate acceleration, air pressure, and Newton's Laws of Motion.

Rocket Wind Tunnel
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In this activity, learners evaluate the potential performance of air rockets placed inside a wind tunnel.

Lung Capacity
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This is an activity about lung capacity. Learners will measure their own lung capacity using a homemade spirometer.
Up, Up and Away with Bottles
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In this activity, learners make water rockets to explore Newton's Third Law of Motion. Learners make the rockets out of plastic bottles and use a bicycle pump to pump them with air.

Paper Drop Design Competition
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Using paper, paper clips, an index card, and tape, teams of learners design flying devices to (1) stay in the air as long as possible and (2) land as close as possible to a given target.

Sky Glider Challenge
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In this design challenge activity, learners use two helium-filled balloons to build a blimp that can travel in a straight path across the room.

Kites
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This activity (on page 2 of the PDF under SciGirls Activity: Kites) is a full inquiry investigation into how a kite’s shape affects its performance.

Engineer an Aeolipile
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In this engineering design challenge, learners build an air-powered spinning machine.

Which Parachute
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In this activity, learners will engineer three different parachutes to test how well each one works.

Engineer an Octopus Suction Pad
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In this engineering design challenge, learners build an octopus-inspired suction pad that can grab an object and hold it tightly in the air.

Blow-and-Go Parachute
Learners make a skydiver and parachute contraption and launch it. They see that the drag created by air resistance slows the descent of skydivers as they travel back to Earth.

Nosedive
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This is a great activity for investigating the basics of lift and drag as they pertain to flight. Learners will discover how to avoid "taking a nosedive" by building their own paper airplane.

Wingin' It
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Learners explore the Bernoulli effect by building an airfoil (airplane wing) and making it fly.

Echo Base Bobsleds
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The goal of this activity is to build a miniature bobsled that is either the fastest or the slowest. Learners use recycled materials to design, build, and test their bobsled on a bobsled track.

3...2...1 Puff!
Source Institutions
In this activity, learners build small indoor paper rockets, determine their flight stability, and launch them by blowing air through a drinking straw.