Look Up! Educator Network

National Geographic takes a high-level look at the physics behind waterslides. A lot of science goes into providing a safe 60 mph trip down slides like Walt Disney World's 10-story Summit Plummet. 'Safety is our number one concern,' explains Rick Hunter of ProSlide Technology. 'We're thinking about things like, "are you going to stay on the fiberglass tube," it's really easy to do a computer model and look at curves and drops and forecast rider position and speed.

"human power, delivered to the craft's four rotors through the bicycle pedals he steadily pumps throughout his flight. It's that fragile machine, built by Reichert's Canadian team, which has now won a long-coveted international prize that lay unclaimed for years. The AHS Igor I. Sikorsky Human Powered Helicopter Competition was established in 1980 for the first successful controlled flight of a human powered helicopter that could reach a height of three metres while hovering for at least one minute in a 10-square-meter area."

cute - nice to see that people who work in commercial aviation have fun and post great photos

"Students construct balloon-powered racing cars using a foam tray and drinking straws. They then test the cars along a measured track on the floor. At the conclusion of the activity, students submit a detailed report on their racer design and how it performed in the trials."

"Download any of the free paper airplane designs below and get flying!   Just print out the template onto standard 8.5" X 11" printer paper.  The fold and cut lines are clearly printed right onto the template, and each paper airplane design has easy-to-follow instructions.  Make sure to read the printing tips at the bottom of this page.  Also see the Flying Tips page for information about how to get the best performance out of your models.  "

"No matter what anyone tells you, EVERY paper airplane needs fine-tuning to achieve its best performance.  There are several things you should keep in mind while making adjustments to your planes. "

resources

"How to make the best paper airplanes." videos and step-by-step instructions

"F-22 Raptor  | 747 Jumbo Jet | F-15 Eagle(A) |  F-15 Eagle(B)   |  Nighthawk  Paper Airplane |  Space Shuttle Paper  Airplane  | Falcon Paper Plane  | Airliner 717 Paper Airplane  | Supersonic Concorde Paper Plane | Triplet Paper Airplane| Cruise Missile  |  The Basic Dart Paper Airplane | Delta_Fighter Paper Airplane  |  Seaplane |  Bellybutton Glider"

"AMA EDUCATION BLOG The Academy in the organization's name is no less relevant today because a major focus of the sport and hobby of aero-modeling is life-long learning, whether a member is young or simply young at heart."

"pilot and biplane, carrying 350 pounds of mail bound first for Cleveland then for points west, as far as San Francisco, disappeared into the early morning gloom. The time was 6:14 a.m. The place, Hazelhurst Field, Mineola, Long Island, and the date, February 22, l921. Ten minutes earlier mail pilot Elmer G. Leonhardt also had taken off from the same field. On the other side of the continent, U.S. Air Mail Service pilots Farr Nutter and Raymond J. Little lifted their de Havillands from San Francisco heading east toward the sun, much of their commemorative airmail addressed to New York."

"The Postal Service solved the problem with the world's first ground-based civilian navigation system: a series of lit beacons that would extend from New York to San Francisco. Every ten miles, pilots would pass a bright yellow concrete arrow. Each arrow would be surmounted by a 51-foot steel tower and lit by a million-candlepower rotating beacon. (A generator shed at the tail of each arrow powered the beacon.) Now mail could get from the Atlantic to the Pacific not in a matter of weeks, but in just 30 hours or so."

"anniversary of Neil Armstrong's walk on the moon, and apparently it is celebrated as Moon Day (that was news to me). Here are some previously-posted "The Best…" lists that are related to the moon"

"To celebrate Moon Day, catch up on the latest in lunar exploration and space travel. The ideas worth sharing here are the first steps in the next giant leap for mankind."

"Aviation archaeology is primarily the locating and documenting of old aircraft crash sites. It focuses on the preservation of these sites and of the history surrounding the activities that caused them. There are many ways to preserve crash sites and their history. However, a major barrier that stands in the way is a lack of knowledge on the part of the public and land managers."

"You can be a Moon explorer too. Practice by building your own Moon habitat. Pretend you are an astronaut working with your team mates on the Moon to build your new home. Materials you will need to build one Moon habitat: 148 sheets of newspaper (use a paper with large pages-tabloid size is too small-and use the full square spread)"

"A wind tunnel is used to study the influence of wind on moving bodies. The structure creates a near similar wind conditions as prevalent in nature when bodies move at high velocity. For this purpose, scaled down models of automobiles or aircrafts are kept inside the tunnel and high velocity airstreams are created and forces acting on the model are analyzed using suitable force measuring devices. Such measurements help in refining the body design"

Some rarely seen pictures and an original newsreel (link on pic 22) of the Hindenburg and the 1937 disaster. Over the years people have seen parts of the Hindenburg but nothing like this one. These photographs are truly amazing.

"Oxford Owl is an incredible collection of free children's ebooks for kids ages 3-11.  Each ebook has accompanying audio so that students can choose to read along, or read independently.  The books also have activities that focus on reading comprehension and story recall. "