This lesson focuses on parachute design. Teams of students construct parachutes from everyday materials. They then test their parachutes to determine whether they can transport a metal washer to a target on the ground with the slowest possible rate of descent.
- Design and construct a parachute
- Test and refine their designs
- Communicate their design process and results
Age Levels: 8-18
Materials & Preparation
Build Materials (For each team)
Required Materials (Trading/Table of Possibilities)
- Ball of string
- Plastic trash bags
- Plastic shopping bags
- Sheets of paper
- Coffee filters
- Newspapers
- Aluminum foil
- Metal washers (3cm diameter)
Testing Materials
- Meter stick or tape
- Small ladder
- String/tape
- Paper plate
Testing Materials & Process
Materials
- Meter stick or Measuring Tape
- Small ladder
- String/tape
- Paper plate
Process
Make a 10cm round target on the floor with tape, string or you can use a paper plate. Use a small ladder to drop the parachutes from a height of 2 meters. The drop height should be measured from the bottom edge of the washer (hanging from the parachute).
Engineering Design Challenge
Design Challenge
You are a team of engineers who have been given the challenge to design a parachute out of everyday items. Your challenge is to design a parachute that can carry one metal washer to the ground from a height of 2 meters and hit a 10 centimeter round target with the slowest possible rate of descent.
Criteria
- Must carry one metal washer to the ground from a height of 2 meters and hit a 10 centimeter target with the slowest possible rate of descent.
Constraints
- Use only the materials provided.
- Teams may trade unlimited materials.
Activity Instructions & Procedures
- Break class into teams of 2-3.
- Hand out the Design a Parachute worksheet, as well as some sheets of paper for sketching designs.
- Discuss the topics in the Background Concepts Section.
- Review the Engineering Design Process, Design Challenge, Criteria, Constraints and Materials.
- Instruct students to start brainstorming and sketching their designs.
- Provide each team with their materials.
- Explain that students must develop their own working parachute from everyday items that can carry one metal washer to the ground from a height of 2 meters. The parachute has to hit a target 10 centimeter in diameter with the slowest rate of descent.
- Before students get started building, consider discussing how a parachute works and what is unique about the design.
- Announce the amount of time they have to design and build (1 hour recommended). Remind students to keep in mind that the longer their parachute takes to hit the target, the better.
- Use a timer or an on-line stopwatch (count down feature) to ensure you keep on time. (www.online-stopwatch.com/full-screen-stopwatch). Give students regular “time checks” so they stay on task. If they are struggling, ask questions that will lead them to a solution quicker.
- Students meet and develop a plan for their parachute. They agree on materials they will need, write/draw their plan, and present their plan to the class. Teams may trade unlimited materials with other teams to develop their ideal parts list.
- Teams build their designs.
- Test the parachute designs. Each team will have 4 chances to test their design. Make a 10cm round target on the floor with tape, string or you can use a paper plate. Use a small ladder to drop the parachutes from a height of 2 meters. The drop height should be measured from the bottom edge of the washer (hanging from the parachute).
- For each of the 4 tests, teams should document the amount of time it took for their parachute to hit the target and the distance in which it landed from the target. They should then calculate the velocity (2 meter drop height divided by drop time). The average of 4 tests is considered the final score.
- As a class, discuss the student reflection questions.
- For more content on the topic, see the “Digging Deeper” section.
Student Reflection (engineering notebook)
- Did you succeed in creating a parachute that could hit the target? If so, what was your slowest rate of descent? If not, why did it fail?
- Did you decide to revise your original design or request additional materials while in the construction phase? Why?
- Did you negotiate any material trades with other teams? How did that process work for you?
- If you could have had access to materials that were different than those provided, what would your team have requested? Why?
- Do you think that engineers have to adapt their original plans during the construction of systems or products? Why might they?
- If you had to do it all over again, how would your planned design change? Why?
- What designs or methods did you see other teams try that you thought worked well?
- Do you think you would have been able to complete this project easier if you were working alone? Explain…
- What kind of changes do you think you would need to make to your design if you needed to transport a heavier payload? Try it!
Time Modification
The lesson can be done in as little as 1 class period for older students. However, to help students from feeling rushed and to ensure student success (especially for younger students), split the lesson into two periods giving students more time to brainstorm, test ideas and finalize their design. Conduct the testing and debrief in the next class period.
Engineering Design Process
Background Concepts
History of Parachutes
Parachutes are devices used to slow the movement of objects. Parachutes are typically used to slow the movement of falling objects but they can also be used to slow down horizontally moving objects such as race cars. The word parachute is believed to be of French origin combining the words para, (a French word with Greek roots) chute meaning to shield against falling. The modern parachute has evolved over several centuries. It is believed that Chinese acrobats used parachutes in their acts as early as the 1300’s. Leonardo DaVinci sketched designs for a pyramid shaped parachute in the mid 15th century. The first time a parachute was actually attempted by a human was in the mid 16th century by Faust Vrancic, a Croatian Inventor. He called his invention Homo Volans or the Flying man. He actually tested out his parachute in 1617 by jumping off a tower in Venice. Andrew Garnerin was the first person on record to use a parachute that did not possess a rigid frame. He used his parachute to jump out of hot air balloons from a height of 8000 feet! He was also the first person to include a vent in the canopy to reduce instability. The parachutes we are more familiar with today didn’t begin to take shape until the 18th century.
SergBob-bigstock.com
Parts of a parachute
The upper portion of the parachute is known as the canopy. Historically, canopies were made of silk but now they are usually made out of nylon fabric. Sometimes the canopy has a hole or vent in the center to release pressure. When a parachute is housed in a container such as a backpack, it may consist of a main canopy and another smaller canopy known as a pilot chute. The pilot chute comes out of the container first and serves to pull open the main canopy. A set of lines connects the canopy to the backpack. The lines are gathered through metal or canvas links attached to thick straps known as risers. The risers are then connected to a harness if the parachute is going to be used by a person.
Types of Parachutes
There are many different types of parachutes. Here are some of the more common parachute designs.
- Round parachute: The parachute most people are familiar with is the round parachute. The round parachute is characterized by a circular canopy.
- Square parachute: The square or cruciform parachute possesses a squarish shaped canopy. Square parachutes are beneficial because they reduce jostling of the user and have a slower rate of descent; reducing injuries.
- Ram-air parachute: Most of the parachutes which are intended for use by people that we see today are ram-air parachutes. The canopy in a ram type parachute is made up of 2 layers of material which are sewn together to form air filled cells.
- Ribbon and ring parachute: Used at supersonic speeds.
Law of Falling Bodies
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) was an Italian astronomer and physicist. Galileo conducted much research on motion and developed what is known as the Law of Falling Bodies. This law states that all objects regardless of their mass fall at the same speed, and that their speed increases uniformly as they fall. Galileo’s calculations however, did not take air resistance into consideration. Drag, or the force that opposes the motion of an object plays a significant role in the motion of a falling parachute.
Newton’s Laws of Motion
Sir Isaac Newton (1642–1727) was a brilliant mathematician, astronomer and physicist who is considered to be one of the most influential figures in human history. Newton studied a wide variety of phenomena during his lifetime, one of which included the motion of objects and systems. Based on his observations he formulated Three Laws of Motion which were presented as Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica in 1686.
- Newton’s First Law – An object at rest will remain at rest and an object in motion will remain in motion at a constant speed unless acted on by an unbalanced force (such as friction or gravity). This is also known as the law of inertia.
- Newton’s Second Law – An object’s acceleration is directly proportional to the net force acting on it and inversely proportional to its mass. The direction of the acceleration is in the direction of the applied net force. Newton’s Second Law can be expressed as: F = ma
- Newton’s Third Law – For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.
Gravity
Newton’s work on developing the Laws of motion led him to formulate the Law of Universal Gravitation. The law states that two bodies attract each other with a force that is directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them. We can use the following equation to calculate the force of gravity with which an object is attracted to the Earth: FG = mg
m = mass of the object
g = the acceleration of gravity
Vocabulary
- Canopy: Upper portion of the parachute.
- Constraints: Limitations with material, time, size of team, etc.
- Criteria: Conditions that the design must satisfy like its overall size, etc.
- Descent: The act or process of going downward
- Engineers: Inventors and problem-solvers of the world. Twenty-five major specialties are recognized in engineering (see infographic).
- Engineering Design Process: Process engineers use to solve problems.
- Engineering Habits of Mind (EHM): Six unique ways that engineers think.
- Iteration: Test & redesign is one iteration. Repeat (multiple iterations).
- Parachutes: Devices used to slow the movement of objects. Parachutes are typically used to slow the movement of falling objects but they can also be used to slow down horizontally moving objects such as race cars.
- Payload: Weight carried by a vehicle, aircraft or spacecraft.
- Prototype: A working model of the solution to be tested.
- Ram-air parachute: Most of the parachutes which are intended for use by people that we see today are ram-air parachutes. The canopy in a ram type parachute is made up of 2 layers of material which are sewn together to form air filled cells.
- Ribbon and ring parachute: Used at supersonic speeds.
- Round parachute: The parachute most people are familiar with is the round parachute. The round parachute is characterized by a circular canopy.
- Square parachute: The square or cruciform parachute possesses a squarish shaped canopy. Square parachutes are beneficial because they reduce jostling of the user and have a slower rate of descent; reducing injuries.
Dig Deeper
Internet Connections
Recommended Reading
- The Silken Canopy: History of the Parachute (ISBN: 978-1853108556)
- Sky People : A History of Parachuting (ISBN: 978-1853108693)
Writing Activity
Research Leonardo DaVinci’s conical parachute and compare and contrast it with modern parachute designs.
Curriculum Alignment
Alignment to Curriculum Frameworks
Note: Lesson plans in this series are aligned to one or more of the following sets of standards:
- U.S. Science Education Standards (http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=4962)
- U.S. Next Generation Science Standards (http://www.nextgenscience.org/)
- International Technology Education Association’s Standards for Technological Literacy (http://www.iteea.org/TAA/PDFs/xstnd.pdf)
- U.S. National Council of Teachers of Mathematics’ Principles and Standards for School Mathematics (http://www.nctm.org/standards/content.aspx?id=16909)
- U.S. Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (http://www.corestandards.org/Math)
- Computer Science Teachers Association K-12 Computer Science Standards (http://csta.acm.org/Curriculum/sub/K12Standards.html)
National Science Education Standards Grades K-4 (ages 4 – 9)
CONTENT STANDARD A: Science as Inquiry
As a result of activities, all students should develop
- Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry
CONTENT STANDARD B: Physical Science
As a result of the activities, all students should develop an understanding of
- Properties of objects and materials
- Position and motion of objects
CONTENT STANDARD G: History and Nature of Science
As a result of activities, all students should develop understanding of
- Science as a human endeavor
National Science Education Standards Grades 5-8 (ages 10 – 14)
CONTENT STANDARD A: Science as Inquiry
As a result of activities, all students should develop
- Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry
CONTENT STANDARD B: Physical Science
As a result of their activities, all students should develop an understanding of
- Motions and forces
CONTENT STANDARD F: Science in Personal and Social Perspectives
As a result of activities, all students should develop understanding of
- Science and technology in society
CONTENT STANDARD G: History and Nature of Science
As a result of activities, all students should develop understanding of
- History of science
National Science Education Standards Grades 9-12 (ages 14-18)
CONTENT STANDARD A: Science as Inquiry
As a result of activities, all students should develop
- Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry
CONTENT STANDARD B: Physical Science
As a result of their activities, all students should develop understanding of
- Motions and forces
CONTENT STANDARD F: Science in Personal and Social Perspectives
As a result of activities, all students should develop understanding of
- Science and technology in local, national, and global challenges
National Science Education Standards Grades 9-12 (ages 14-18)
CONTENT STANDARD G: History and Nature of Science
As a result of activities, all students should develop understanding of Historical perspectives
- History of science
Next Generation Science Standards Grades 2-5 (Ages 7-11)
Matter and its Interactions
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
- 2-PS1-2. Analyze data obtained from testing different materials to determine which materials have the properties that are best suited for an intended purpose.
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
- 4-PS3-1. Use evidence to construct an explanation relating the speed of an object to the energy of that object.
Engineering Design
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
- 3-5-ETS1-1.Define a simple design problem reflecting a need or a want that includes specified criteria for success and constraints on materials/time/cost.
- 3-5-ETS1-2.Generate and compare multiple possible solutions to a problem based on how well each is likely to meet criteria/constraints of the problem.
- 3-5-ETS1-3.Plan and carry out fair tests in which variables are controlled and failure points are considered to identify aspects of a model or prototype that can be improved.
Next Generation Science Standards Grades 6-8 (Ages 11-14)
Engineering Design
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
- MS-ETS1-1 Define the criteria and constraints of a design problem with sufficient precision to ensure a successful solution, taking into account relevant scientific principles and potential impacts on people and the natural environment that may limit possible solutions.
- MS-ETS1-2 Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process to determine how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.
Principles and Standards for School Mathematics (ages 11 – 14)
Measurement Standard
-Apply appropriate techniques, tools, and formulas to determine measurements.
- solve simple problems involving rates and derived measurements for such attributes as velocity and density.
Principles and Standards for School Mathematics (ages 14 – 18)
Measurement Standard
– Apply appropriate techniques, tools, and formulas to determine measurements.
- analyze precision, accuracy, and approximate error in measurement situations.
Common Core State Standards for School Mathematics Grades 2-8 (ages 7-14)
Measurement and data
- Measure and estimate lengths in standard units.
- CCSS.Math.Content.2.MD.A.1 Measure the length of an object by selecting and using appropriate tools such as rulers, yardsticks, meter sticks, and measuring tapes.
- CCSS.Math.Content.2.MD.A.3 Estimate lengths using units of inches, feet, centimeters, and meters.
Standards for Technological Literacy – All Ages
Design
- Standard 8: Students will develop an understanding of the attributes of design.
- Standard 9: Students will develop an understanding of engineering design.
- Standard 10: Students will develop an understanding of the role of troubleshooting, research and development, invention and innovation, and experimentation in problem solving.
Related Engineering Fields and Degrees
Student Worksheet
You are a team of engineers who have been given the challenge to design a parachute out of everyday items. Your challenge is to design a parachute that can carry one metal washer to the ground from a height of 2M and hit a 10 cm target with the slowest possible rate of descent. The parachute that can hit the target with the slowest descent rate is the winner.
Planning Stage
Meet as a team and discuss the problem you need to solve. Then develop and agree on a design for your parachute. You’ll need to determine what materials you want to use.
Draw your design in the box below, and be sure to indicate the description and number of parts you plan to use. Present your design to the class.
You may choose to revise your teams’ plan after you receive feedback from class.
Design: Materials Needed:
Construction Phase
Build your parachute. During construction you may decide you need additional materials or that your design needs to change. This is ok – just make a new sketch and revise your materials list.
Testing Phase
Each team will test their parachute. You’ll need to time your test to make sure your can support the washer and achieve the slowest rate of descent.
Parachute Testing Data Drop Height (m) Drop Time (s) Velocity
(m/s)Distance Landed from Target Test 1 Test 2 Test 3 Test 4 Average Evaluation
Evaluate your teams’ results, complete the evaluation worksheet, and present your findings to the class.
Use this worksheet to evaluate your team’s results in the Playing with Parachutes Lesson:
1. Did you succeed in creating a parachute that could hit the target? If so, what was your slowest rate of descent? If not, why did it fail?
2. Did you decide to revise your original design or request additional materials while in the construction phase? Why?
3. Did you negotiate any material trades with other teams? How did that process work for you?
4. If you could have had access to materials that were different than those provided, what would your team have requested? Why?
5. Do you think that engineers have to adapt their original plans during the construction of systems or products? Why might they?
6. If you had to do it all over again, how would your planned design change? Why?
7. What designs or methods did you see other teams try that you thought worked well?
8. Do you think you would have been able to complete this project easier if you were working alone? Explain…
9. What kind of changes do you think you would need to make to your design if you needed to transport a heavier payload? Try it!
Translations
Industrial Engineering
Computer Engineering