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Flying? The Da Vinci Parachute

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FLYING? THE DA VINCI PARACHUTE

Some words to help us ...

Protractor: An instrument to measure angles. The standard unit to measure angles is degrees.

Triangle: A 2D shape with three sides and three angles/corners. The angles inside a triangle add up to 180o. All three sides are the same length in an equilateral triangle.

Pyramid: A 3D shape. The sides (faces) are triangles that meet at one point (vertex) at the top of the shape. A square pyramid has a square based with 4 edges.

Angle: 1. The spread between two rays (lines)

2. The corner of a two-dimensional figure

3. The amount of turning.

Parachute: A device to slow the motion of an object through the air.

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FLYING? THE DA VINCI PARACHUTE

Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci was an Italian scientist, inventor and artist who lived in the 15th century (just over 500 years ago). He spent hours watching birds to learn about flying.

He created a sketch of a parachute 300 years before the first real parachute was created.

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Da Vinci’s sketch

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FLYING? THE DA VINCI PARACHUTE

What do we need?

  • Paper
  • Ruler
  • Pencil
  • Protractor
  • Scissors
  • Clear tape
  • Dental floss
  • A weight (plastic figure)

Parachute video

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FLYING? THE DA VINCI PARACHUTE

What do we need to do?

  1. Draw a 9cm line on the paper. Use the protractor to measure 60o at each end of the line.
  2. Draw lines from each end of the first line - through your 60o marks to create a triangle with 3 equal sides and angles.

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FLYING? THE DA VINCI PARACHUTE

What do we need to do?

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3. Repeat this 3 more times - so you have 4

equilateral triangles.

4. Use scissors to cut out the 4 triangles.

5. Using clear tape, join all four triangles to

each other to create a pyramid.

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FLYING? THE DA VINCI PARACHUTE

What do we need to do?

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6. Make a small hole with the scissors at the bottom of each of the four triangles.

7. Make one small hole at the tip of the pyramid.

8. Cut 4 pieces of dental floss that are each 20 cm long.

9. Cut 1 piece of dental floss that is 30 cm long.

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FLYING? THE DA VINCI PARACHUTE

What do we need to do?

10. Thread the long piece of floss through the hole at the tip of the pyramid. Tie a knot and tape to secure.

11. Thread the shorter lengths of dental floss through the holes at the bottom of each triangle. Stick with clear tape to fix.

12. Attach your weight (plastic soldier) to the end

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FLYING? THE DA VINCI PARACHUTE

What do we need to do?

13. Attach your weight (plastic soldier) to the end of the long bit of string.

14. Test your parachute by dropping it from different heights.

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FLYING? THE DA VINCI PARACHUTE

What did we do?

First …

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Next …

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After that …

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Finally ...

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FLYING? THE DA VINCI PARACHUTE

What happened?

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FLYING? THE DA VINCI PARACHUTE

When you launched your parachute, what forces of flight were working?

Lift

Weight

Thrust

Drag

Do you think the parachute flew? Why do you think that?