Download Awesome Airbus - School

Awesome Airbus
Teachers’ notes
What’s it all about
The world's biggest passenger plane - the Airbus A380 - has taken to the sky for its first
public flight. The plane, which is taller than six double decker buses and longer than a football
pitch, was designed and built by experts from many European countries. Inside, there's lots of
room for people to relax and some of the planes could even have a gym and shops inside. In
this activity children learn to explain how such an enormous plane can take off and stay in the
air. They design an Airbus for their school and consider whether it will fit in the playground.
Where it fits
Science:
QCA Unit 6E Forces in action


that several forces may act on one object
to represent the direction of forces by arrows
Scientific enquiry




that science is about thinking creatively to try to explain how non-living things
work and to establish links between cause and effect
make relevant observations and measurements and use them to draw
conclusions
consider what sources of information including first hand experience and a range
of other sources they will use to answer questions
use scientific knowledge and understanding to explain data or conclusions
What children will learn:

that forces can be balanced and unbalanced
Children will demonstrate this by completing the task on page 3 successfully.

that when forces are unbalanced, things move
Children will demonstrate this by completing the task on page 3 successfully.

that when the force on the underside of a wing is greater than the force on the
upperside the plane will take off
Children will demonstrate this by completing the task on page 3 successfully.

the dimensions of an Airbus A380
Children will demonstrate this by completing the task on page 4 successfully.
What you need to do
Introducing the activity
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Display Page 1 through data projector or on an OHT. Introduce the story by telling the
children some facts about this colossal airplane e.g.
 The A380 is the length of eight London buses
 70 cars could be parked on its wings
 It is 15m wider, 4m taller and 2m longer than a 747
 If every seat on board was economy class there would be room for 853 passengers.
A 747 has room for 568.
Ask the children to work in small groups and discuss what they would like to see aboard such
a large plane.
Leading the main activity

Display Page 2 through a data projector or on an OHT. Discuss the forces
labelled on the image. Discuss how drag is air-resistance and how weight is a
force that acts downwards. Consider what forces are acting on the airplane when
it is stationary on the runway. Ask the children if they have travelled by plane. Ask
them to describe the feeling of taking off. On a whiteboard make a list of words
used in the descriptions. E.g. fast, push, up etc. Ask the children if any of the
words are describing the forces shown on the diagram.
Describe how the faster the air moves over the top of the wing the lower the air
pressure on that part of the wing – this causes lift. The forces on the wing are
unbalanced and there is a greater force upwards than downwards.
Optional practical investigation
How does lift work?
Equipment you will need:
Paper wings - strips of paper (newspaper is good) approx. 5 cm by 25 cm
A book to hold the edge of the paper wing (the shorter the better)
Paper clips
Lots of puff
What to do:
1. Try the activity with the paper wing in the book first.
2. Trap the short end of the paper strip in a book and let the strip hang down from it.
Notice how it curves like an airplane wing?
3. Ask the children to predict what will happen as they blow across the top of the wing.
4. Ask the children to hold the book vertically with the strip facing away from them and
blow across the top of the strip.
5. The strip lifts up!
6. Now try the activity holding the paper wing against the chin.
7. Take the paper wing out of the book.
8. Hold the paper wing between your finger and thumb and rest it against your chin.
9. Blow across the top of the paper wing.
10. What happens to the paper wing?
11. Fasten a paper clip to the other end of the paper wing.
12. Try blowing across the wing again.
13. How many paper clips can you fasten onto your paper wing before it has difficulty
lifting?
14. Try pulling your paper wing quickly through the air.
15. Does it still lift?

Display Page 3 through a data projector or on an OHT. Print off copies for the
children.
Discussion starters
 What are the forces on the airplane? Look at page 2 to remind you.
 Discuss whether the forces are large and small
2


In what direction are these forces acting?
Are the forces balanced or unbalanced in each case? Fill in the gaps.
Extension activity
 Look at pictures of different planes.
 Gliders have large wings
 Jet planes have smaller wings
 Predict what two factors are needed to cause the plane to lift.
 Try pulling the paper wing through the air at different speeds.
Return to Page 1
 Look at the image of the Airbus and the person from the airline company.
 Recap ideas discussed at beginning. Ask the children how they would explain how
such a large aircraft stays in the air.
 Role play being a worried passenger and a calm air crew.

Display Page 4 through a data projector or on an OHT. Discuss activity with
whole class. What kind of things would children like to see on a school plane?
Look at the dimensions of the plane.
 How long is it?
 How wide is it?
 Would it fit on the playground? Can you estimate how big it is?
 Measure the playground and see
Extension Ideas . . . Cross Curricular Links
Design a paper airplane (Design and technology)
Design an airplane that flies a) the fastest b) the furthest. What modifications need to
be made?
Flying Machines (History):
Research the history of the airplane e.g. Orville and Wilbur Wright and the world's
first flight on the Kitty Hawk.
Reporting from the Airbus A380 (Literacy)
Imagine you are one of the press reporters on the first public flight of the Airbus
A380. What is it like? Describe the features inside. How does it compare to a
normal-sized plane? How would you persuade other people to take a flight? What
are the advantages and disadvantages of such a large aircraft?
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Assessment for Learning: Smart Grid
Thumbs Up
We were
great at the
task
because…
Thumbs
Sideways
We were
good at the
task
because…
Thumbs
Down
We were OK
at the task
because…
We correctly
identified the forces
and the direction in
which they were
acting
We were able to
explain that air
moving quickly over
the wing produces
lift
We stated that the
amount of lift
depends on the
length and the
speed of the wing
We knew that the
plane takes off when
the force pushing up
on the wing is
greater than the
force pushing down
We labelled the
diagrams correctly
Next time we will…
We knew that the
forces are
unbalanced when
the plane is taking
off
we . . .
Smart Grids were devised by the Centre for Science Education
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Science at your fingertips
Is the Airbus A380 the biggest plane in the world?
No. The world's biggest plane is the Antonov 225. It was originally designed to transport the
former Soviet Union's Buran space shuttle. The six-engined plane can carry over 250 tonnes
of cargo - double that of the largest plane in current use, another Antonov. It has a wingspan
of 88.4 metres (291 feet) and a cargo compartment capable of storing about 80 cars. Only
two of the original Antonov 225s were ever built, and only one ever took to the air.
Why are wings curved?
The design of the wings causes air to travel faster over the upper surface of the wing. Since
the upper surface of the wing is longer, it causes the air to flow faster over the upper surface,
which (by Bernoulli's principle) creates lower pressure above. Faster moving air causes a
decrease in pressure. The air below the wing is travelling slower which causes an increase in
pressure. This difference in pressure causes the plane to lift.
How does a plane fly?
A Boeing 777 takes off at about 180 miles per hour. At this speed, the wings would have
created a lifting force greater than the weight of the airplane (287 tons or 632,500 lbs). As it
accelerates, the lifting force becomes even greater causing the airplane to climb further. It
will continue to accelerate as it climbs to its cruising altitude of about 35,000 feet (about 7
miles high). During cruise, the weight of the aircraft would be about 275 tons due to some of
the fuel being burnt off during the climb. The lifting force generated by the wings now is also
about 275 tons, creating equilibrium. The plane would no longer climb but continues to move
forward because of thrust forces generated by the jet engines.
Web links
How Stuff Works
http://travel.howstuffworks.com/a380.htm
Airbus A380
How does a plane fly
http://www.raes.org.uk/raes/careers/education/education_planes.htm
Excellent resource showing forces on a plane
BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_6330000/newsid_6339700/6339773.stm
Story of the Airbus A380 public flight
Aeronautics learning Lab
http://www.allstar.fiu.edu/aero/Experiment1.htm
Airfoil experiments
BBC H2g2
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A517169
Bernoulli’s principle
Geocities
http://www.geocities.com/khlim777_my/asaerodynamics1.htm
How an airplane flies – ask a pilot questions and answers
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Chaos
http://www.chaosscience.org.uk/dem/public_html//article.php?story=2003092116572
8982
Explanations and demos of air streams
primaryupd8 is a joint initiative from ASE and the Centre for Science
Education, Sheffield Hallam University. We are grateful for support from the
Department for Education and Skills in developing this programme.
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