LEARN NC

K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

Long distance airplanes

http://illuminations.nctm.org/LessonDetail.aspx?ID=L323

A lesson plan for Grades 4–5 Mathematics

Provider: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics

About this resource

Appropriate grades
4–5
Subjects
mathematics (applied mathematics, probability, statistics)
Provider
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics

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Students make paper airplanes and explore attributes related to increasing flight distances. Each student collects data from three flights of the airplane and finds the median distance and then collect, organize, display, and interpret the median distances for the class in a stem-and-leaf plot. Illuminations provides an activity sheet and detailed instructions for completing the lesson. After a brief discussion of NASA’s engineers ad their work, the teacher reviews the forces that affect flight. Then, students design and construct paper airplanes that will travel the greatest distance and compare their hypotheses with classmates. Finally, students fly their planes, record and compare their data, and discuss the results.

Students will:

  • Collect, organize, display, and interpret data.
  • Determine median distances.
  • Construct a stem-and-leaf plot of class data.
  • Determine the range and mode of class data.

NCTM Standards and Expectations:

  • Collect data using observations, surveys, and experiments.
  • Represent data using tables and graphs such as line plots, bar graphs, and line graphs.
  • Describe the shape and important features of a set of data and compare related data sets, with an emphasis on how the data are distributed.

North Carolina Curriculum Alignment

Mathematics (2004)

Grade 4

  • Goal 4: Data Analysis and Probability - The learner will understand and use graphs, probability, and data analysis.
    • Objective 4.01: Collect, organize, analyze, and display data (including line graphs and bar graphs) to solve problems.
    • Objective 4.02: Describe the distribution of data using median, range and mode.
    • Objective 4.03: Solve problems by comparing two sets of related data.
    • Objective 4.04: Design experiments and list all possible outcomes and probabilities for an event.

Grade 5

  • Goal 4: Data Analysis and Probability - The learner will understand and use graphs and data analysis.
    • Objective 4.01: Collect, organize, analyze, and display data (including stem-and-leaf plots) to solve problems.
    • Objective 4.02: Compare and contrast different representations of the same data; discuss the effectiveness of each representation.
    • Objective 4.03: Solve problems with data from a single set or multiple sets of data using median, range, and mode.