The Ultimate Whirligig Challenge

Your Mission: Design a Whirligig with the longest flight time.

Your Materials:

• precut pieces of scratch paper
• ruler
• scissors
• pens and pencils

The Basic Design:

Take a strip of paper and make a dotted line at half the length. On that line, cut one-third of the way on both sides. Fold in lengthwise on one half of the paper, effectively making one half fat and one half skinny. Make a 1cm fold at the bottom of the skinny half. Repeat twice. Cut down the middle of the fat half making two strips. Holding the whirligig vertically, with the skinny, folded end towards the ground, push one strip to the left and one to the right. Drop and watch it spin!

Standard category:

By altering only the length of the propellers, maximize the flight time.

Open category:

Maximize the flight time by altering any part of the whirligig, but still using the same materials.

Documentation (due at the end of class, 1 submission per group):

ß Record the design Number, drop height and drop time in a chart for EVERY flight. Keep drop height constant.

ß Provide a description of each design, adequately detailed so that it could be recreated by anyone. Images/sketches are a useful addition here.

Homework (due the next time we meet for engineering design):

Write a thoughtful reflection about your experience.

• What did you learn about Whirligigs?
• What challenges did you face? What successes did you enjoy?
• What might you do differently next time?
• Self assess your work with your partner (communication), giving detailed evidence to support your grade.
• Self assess your effort, giving detailed evidence to support your grade.
• Self assess your democratic citizenship, giving detailed evidence to support your grade.

	4 exceeds standards	3 meets standards	2 approaching standards	1 below standard
Communication SELF ASSESSED	I consistently communicated clearly with my partner making sure that we both understood what was going on before moving to the next step.	I attempted to communicate clearly with my partner but there were occasions I could have done better.	I was good about asking questions when I needed help, but didnπt always check in with my partner to make sure she was on track.	I failed to ask for help or clarification from my partner when I needed it.
Democratic Citizenship SELF ASSESSED	I was fully engaged during the entire period and stayed consistently on task. We used materials safely and were not wasteful and cleaned our space when we finished.	I was usually on task although occasionally I got distracted. We used materials safely and were not wasteful and cleaned our space when we finished.	I was usually on task although occasionally I got distracted. Our work space was not cleaned when we finished.	I had difficulty staying on task. MM or another teacher had to speak to me about getting back to work during the class period.