Anytime Lesson Plan: Build a Borneo Glider

In this inquiry-based science activity, students will learn the basic forces of flight as they construct their own paper glider that represents a rainforest creature from Borneo.

In this inquiry-based science activity, students will:

1. discover the rainforest habitat of Borneo and its gliding inhabitants
2. understand why a membrane for gliding is a helpful adaptation for living in rainforest trees
3. learn the basic forces of flight and other relevant vocabulary
4. construct their own paper glider, and experiment with adjustments to determine how to best stabilize the craft for a long, smooth glide
5. apply the forces of flight to the structures and locomotion of diverse rainforest gliders

scratch paper (8x11)
paperclips
scissors
pencils
one large cardboard box
visuals of Borneo gliders
Student Worksheet (one per group of 4)
Teacher Answer Sheet

Four Forces of Flight

• force: a push or pull in a certain direction
• thrust: the power that causes a glider to move forward, such as jumping from a tree
• lift: the force that pushes upward on a glider’s wings to keep it in the air
• drag: the “backward” force due to air stream that resists forward motion, slowing or stalling a glider
• weight: the force that pulls a glider downward due to gravity

Paper Glider Movements

• to glide: to move through the air in a smooth, gradual descent, using power gained only from takeoff
• to stall: to come to a halt in midair; often followed by a fluttering descent!
• to dive: to plunge nose down through the air
• to bank: to roll sideways; like making a turn on a bike by leaning left or right; controlled by flaps
• to pitch: to point the nose of a glider upward or downward; like nodding “yes”; controlled by weight
• to yaw: to turn the nose of an glider left or right; like nodding “no”; controlled by rudders

Rainforest Keywords

• adaptation: a particular structure or behavior that helps an organism to survive better in its habitat
• arboreal: living in trees
• Borneo: a large, tropical island in Southeast Asia, famous for its unique rainforest flora and fauna, including gliding mammals, reptiles, and amphibians
• canopy: the uppermost layer of the rainforest, full of dense, green treetop foliage
• membrane: a thin sheet of tissue covering or connecting parts of a living thing
• nocturnal: active at night

Introduction

Show students visuals of gliding animals from Borneo.  Ask students if they can spot an adaptation that all of these animals share which leaves them better suited to live high up in the dense canopy of the rainforest. (a flexible membrane in between their fingers or limbs). How do they use this structure? (to glide, rather than fly).  What are the benefits of gliding? (animals can quickly escape predators, and travel between nearby food sites for foraging without crawling all the way up and down trees). 

Procedure

1. Using a pre-folded paper glider as a model, explain the four forces that act on an object in flight.  Quiz students on the direction associated with lift, weight, thrust, and drag by having the class point up, down, forward, or backward, respectively, as you call out the name of the force.
2. Describe the different directions a glider can rotate in flight, introducing vocabulary while engaging the students kinesthetically.  First, have students stand up with their arms stretched out like wings.  Model movements such as yawing, banking, pitching, and stalling for the class, and direct students to perform the motions on command until the terms become familiar.
3. Distribute one worksheet to each group of four, and lead students in constructing a glider.
4. Inform students that they will now make small changes to their gliders to discover how flight can be controlled.  Divide team players into the four roles of Launcher, Engineer, Mechanic, and Recorder.  Allow them to trade or share responsibility throughout the exercise; however, only one team member should launch at any one time.
5. Provide an overview of the worksheet: instruct student groups to modify the first glider with paperclip weights, the second with control flaps, and the third with rudders.  Remind students to perform only one alteration at a time: it is important to isolate each variable to determine its effect on the glider’s flight.  Moreover, students should conduct multiple trials (test flights) with each glider before drawing conclusions about the function of the modifications.
6. Use the Let’s Experiment! Teacher Answer Sheet to lead the students in inquiry, prediction, and interpretation, but keep in mind results will vary due to air flow.  Don’t worry too much about the physics of “why” the glider moves the way it does; instead, emphasize discovery, trial and error, and recording data.
7. Finally, have groups design a glider with a combination that allows it to glide smoothly.  Position a large cardboard box on the ground or on a table at the far end of the experiment area, with its open side facing an indicated “launch point”.  The launch point represents the tree in which a glider is currently foraging.  Since food is getting scarce, the glider needs to travel to the nearby cardboard box “tree” where fresh food is available. Have groups take turns testing their final design by launching safely into the cardboard box.  
8. Recycle the paper gliders when trials are complete.

Wrap-Up

1. Come together as a class, and call on groups to report on how modifications led to particular changes.
2. Assign as homework or discuss the following questions, which apply the forces of flight—and students’ observations from the experiment—to rainforest gliders: 

• How does a frog thrust itself into flight? Where does the power come from?  (Energy from its long, strong back legs pushes it into a jump)v     Which animal’s membrane probably creates the most lift? (The one with the largest surface area, and most stable design) 
• At what point in the glide does a flying squirrel or lemur want drag due to air resistance? (At landing time!) How does the animal adjust its flight to create drag? (Flipping itself vertical to maximize surface area)
• Are any gliders able to overcome the force of weight? (Only if they thrust themselves upwards at the beginning of the glide; from then on, it’s smooth sailing downwards)

• Berry, P.Y. 1975. The Amphibian Fauna of Peninsular Malaysia. Tropical Press: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. p. 130.
• Churchill, Richard E. 1992. Fabulous Paper Airplanes. Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.: New York. pp. 7-14, 23-5. 
• Earl of Cranbrook. 1991. Mammals of South-East Asia: Second Edition. Oxford University Press: Singapore. pp.13-14, 64-5.
• Laman, Tim. 2000. “Wild Gliders,” National Geographic.  October 2000, Vol. 198, Issue 4.
• Payne, Junaidi, et al. 1985. A Field Guide to the Mammals of Borneo. The Sabah Society: Kuala Lumpur. pp. 167, 244-9.
• Steinhardt Aquarium. 2007.  “Tropical Rainforest: Borneo Gliders”. Label text.
• University of Michigan Museum of Zoology. 1995-2006.  “Animal Diversity Web”. Website accessed August 03, 2007: < http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/index.html >

• British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). 2007. Planet Earth: Great Plains, Jungles, & Fresh Water.  DVD. Available at The Discovery Channel Store for $21.95:  Website accessed October 5, 2007: < http://shopping.discovery.com/product-65138.html >   PLEASE NOTE: The Jungles episode contains exceptional video of a suite of gliders from Borneo.  However, film footage at the closing of the episode features cannibalism between tribes of chimpanzees, which may be quite disturbing for student viewers.  We urge teachers to watch the DVD before showing it to the class to consider ending the DVD prior to this segment.  
• National Geographic Magazine.  2000. Sights and Sounds from Wild Gliders of Borneo. National Geographic Society.  Website accessed July 2007: < http://www.nationalgeographic.org/ngm/0010/feature4/media2.html >
• National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Aeronautics: An Educator’s Guide with Activities in Science, Mathematics, and Technology Education. Delta Wing Glider. p.60-68. Website accessed August 3, 2007: < http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/topnav/materials/listbytype/Aeronautics.html >
• The Ohio State University Extension. Science Fun with Airplanes. Website accessed August 3, 2007: < http://extension.osu.edu/~flight/homepage.html >

 

Grade Four

Life Sciences

• 3b.  Students know that in any particular environment, some kinds of plants and animals survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all.

 Investigation and Experimentation

• 6c.  Formulate and justify predictions based on cause-and-effect relationships.
• 6d.  Conduct multiple trials to test a prediction and draw conclusions about the relationships between predictions and results.
• 6f.  Follow a set of written instructions for a scientific investigation.

Grade Eight

Physical Sciences

• 2b.  Students know when an object is subject to two or more forces at once, the result is the cumulative effect of all the forces.
• 2d.  Students know how to identify separately the two or more forces that are acting on a single static object, including gravity, elastic forces due to tension or compression in matter, and friction.
• 2e.  Students know that when the forces on an object are unbalanced, the object will change its velocity (that is, it will speed up, slow down, or change direction).

Download the Full Lesson Plan to read more about the four forces of flight, as well as learn about some of the representative gliding animals of Borneo.