We kinda do things backwards in our house. Generally, my kids make something cool, modify it a bit, and then start to ask the question “How does this work?” Case in point, last week my son came up with the idea to make a parachute for his cars. So he searched the house for materials and went to town building it from a plastic bag and some yarn. He ran up & down the staircase, throwing it down to see it float. He fiddled with it when it didn’t work and dropped it down using different types of force. And only after he had exhausted all the ways he could think of, he came to me to ask how it worked.
Well son, Air Resistance occurs when a moving object is pushing against the air, which slows the moving object down. Air resistance helps airplanes fly, windmills move, and parachutes to fall gently to the ground. Air resistance can also be dangerous at high speeds, such as in hurricanes or tornados.
Anything that moves through the air is met with resistance. A good way to “see” air resistance is with a helium balloon. If you were to hold the balloon on a string, it floats vertically. Once you begin to move with the balloon, it starts to get pulled down and drags behind you. That is because the air resistance is dragging it down.
KIDS PARACHUTE
Let’s Make a Parachute and Test Air Resistance Experiments
Materials:
plastic grocery bag
dinner plate
yarn or string
tape
scissors
hole punch
marker
heavy object to act as our “parachuter”
make a parachuteInstructions:
Using the plate, trace a large circle on one side of the plastic bag and cut it out
Mark four spots around the circle with a marker, equal distance apart
Cover each spot with a piece of tape to make the area less resistant to tear
Punch a hole out of each spot
Take 4 pieces of the same length of yarn and attach one to each of the holes
Tie the 4 pieces of yarn to the parachuter
Find a place to drop your parachute that will give you some height – top of the staircase, off the top of a jungle gym, etc.
PLAY PARACHUTE
Remember, you want the parachute to drop slowly to the ground. Drop a “parachuter” of similar weight without the parachute off the same place and see what happens. Ask your child why they think the parachute makes it drop slowly.