(Grade 5: Science) “Recreate a Crash” – Cruise Ship Runs Aground In Italy

AN ACTIVITY FOR GRADE 5

Article: Cruise Ship Runs Aground In Italy
By Joyce Grant

Activity: Recreate a Crash
By Jonathan Tilly

1. Using paper airplanes, create a plane that will withstand a head-on collision with a fixed object, such as a wall.
2. Here’s how to test: measure how far your plane flies five times. The middle number is your average, “median.” Now fly your plane into a fixed object. Lastly, fly your plane once more. If it can travel as far as your prior average, you’ve succeeded.

Curriculum Connection
Use technological problem-solving skills to design, build, and test a frame structure (e.g., a bridge, a tower) that will withstand the application of an external force; (OME, Science, 2.4).