Museum of Science, Boston

Books for Kids

  • Aviation Legends Paper Airplane Book
    , by
    Ken Blackburn and Jeff Lammers
  • The Ultimate Paper Airplane
    , by
    Richard Kline

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Contact the Discovery Center and Living Lab staff at livinglab@mos.org

Copter Engineering: Early Elementary Schoolers






  

    

  Copter Engineering can be a fun science activity for people of all ages. We provide these generalizations as guidelines about what children at different ages might do during Copter Engineering explorations at the Discovery Center’s Experiment Station, in the kitchen at home, or at school. Listed below are science and technology process skills that children may be practicing during their explorations. Please remember: each child develops at a different rate, so some children in each age group may be able to do some of the things described in the age group before or after their own. 


How might early elementary schoolers explore Copter Engineering



  

      


  

    
Act Cooperatively - Early Elementary Schoolers




Early elementary school children might compare their results to their peers, or challenge peers to a race.  
  





  

    
Hypothesize - Early Elementary Schoolers




Early elementary aged children can guess which of two copters will fall the fastest, and then test their ideas in a 'copter race'.


Early elementary aged children may make guesses to explain why the copters fly differently, depending on their design.


Early elementary aged children can also try to design a copter that will fly in a way that meets a goal that they set.
  





  

    
Observe - Early Elementary Schoolers




Early elementary aged visitors can see connections between the copter design they choose and the affects of that design on how the copter spins.  


Early elementary aged visitors can draw conclusions based on their observations.
  





  

    
Plan and design - Early Elementary Schoolers




Early elementary School children can create their own wing designs, and are not limited by the patterns provided on the template.


Early elementary school children are also developing their understanding of the importance of controlling variables in experiments, and can begin to design experiments of their own. 


Grownups can learn about ongoing developmental research that addresses children's ability to control variables in the Learning Through Play area of the Living Laboratory.
  





  

    
Use Tools - Early Elementary Schoolers




Early elementary aged visitors are adept at using scissors and have developed the fine motor skills necessary to manipulate the paperclips. 


Early elementary aged visitors also begin to understand how time is measured and can practice using a stopwatch to count how many times their copter spins in a given time-frame, or how long it takes their copter to reach the floor.