{"id":2068,"date":"2018-04-11T13:08:40","date_gmt":"2018-04-11T17:08:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/?p=2068"},"modified":"2020-10-06T10:13:10","modified_gmt":"2020-10-06T14:13:10","slug":"q-how-can-i-build-a-better-paper-airplane","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/q-how-can-i-build-a-better-paper-airplane\/","title":{"rendered":"Q: How can I build a better Paper airplane?"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside>\n<header>Take Flight<\/header>\n<p>If you\u2019re looking to build a paper plane that can fly far and isn\u2019t terribly hard to make, it\u2019s tough to beat the Dart, says Letitia Graybill. The plane\u2019s sleek design and minimal wingspan help minimize drag. Her expert tip: Use some double-sided tape to hold it together tightly without adding much weight.<\/p>\n<div class=\"paperplanes\">\n<div class=\"step step1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"582\" height=\"583\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-2284\" src=\"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/plane1.png\" alt=\"Paper Plane - Step 1\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/plane1.png 582w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/plane1-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/plane1-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/plane1-560x561.png 560w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/plane1-280x280.png 280w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/plane1-320x321.png 320w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/plane1-360x361.png 360w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/plane1-9x9.png 9w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 582px) 100vw, 582px\" \/><\/div>\n<div class=\"step step2\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"375\" height=\"602\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-2285\" src=\"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/plane2.png\" alt=\"Paper Plane - Step 2\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/plane2.png 375w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/plane2-187x300.png 187w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/plane2-280x449.png 280w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/plane2-320x514.png 320w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/plane2-360x578.png 360w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/plane2-9x14.png 9w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 375px) 100vw, 375px\" \/><\/div>\n<div class=\"step step3\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"375\" height=\"602\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-2289\" src=\"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/plane3.png\" alt=\"Paper Plane - Step 3\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/plane3.png 375w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/plane3-187x300.png 187w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/plane3-280x449.png 280w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/plane3-320x514.png 320w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/plane3-360x578.png 360w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/plane3-9x14.png 9w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 375px) 100vw, 375px\" \/><\/div>\n<div class=\"step step4\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"375\" height=\"602\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-2290\" src=\"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/plane4.png\" alt=\"Paper Plane - Step 4\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/plane4.png 375w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/plane4-187x300.png 187w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/plane4-280x449.png 280w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/plane4-320x514.png 320w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/plane4-360x578.png 360w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/plane4-9x14.png 9w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 375px) 100vw, 375px\" \/><\/div>\n<div class=\"step step5\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"619\" height=\"415\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-2291\" src=\"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/plane5.png\" alt=\"Paper Plane - Step 5\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/plane5.png 619w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/plane5-300x201.png 300w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/plane5-560x375.png 560w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/plane5-280x188.png 280w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/plane5-320x215.png 320w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/plane5-360x241.png 360w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/plane5-9x6.png 9w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 619px) 100vw, 619px\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p><span class=\"firstLetter\">A<\/span>s a child growing up in New York City, science education lecturer Letitia Graybill spent her summer afternoons engrossed in neighborhood paper airplane competitions. The goal? To build the fastest, farthest-traveling paper aircraft. To win, myriad considerations needed to be taken into account: speed, distance, paper weight, wingspan, throwing style. As it turns out, the winners all had something in common: Their designs were sleek, streamlined, light, and strong. One surefire way to lose a race was to rely on a chunky, squared-off design, says Graybill.<\/p>\n<p>Today, educators might define those childhood competitions as STEM education at work, due to the practical application of science, technology, engineering, and math. And if you ask Graybill, STEM is a worthy approach\u2014but it is no longer the whole story.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe don\u2019t want to forget about the role design can play,\u201d she says. \u201cSTEM has always stressed the importance of math, as well as the application of technology and science research. But in recent years, we\u2019ve been thinking more and more about engineering because we want to keep our nation competitive. And with engineering comes design.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Enter STEAM education\u2014STEM plus Art. \u201cImagine the design of a beautiful bridge,\u201d says Graybill. \u201cIt\u2019s about the function of the bridge, but also the beauty of it. That\u2019s what STEAM is about.\u201d And unlike STEM, which relies on a specific knack for the sciences, STEAM allows students with artistic talents to envision how they can put those skills to work in the engineering field.<\/p>\n<p>Drawing inspiration from her childhood paper airplane competitions, Graybill designed a STEAM lesson plan, which she detailed in a chapter she contributed to the textbook, <em>Cases on STEAM Education in Practice<\/em>. (One of Graybill\u2019s Monmouth colleagues, Professor of Science Education Judith Bazler, is co-editor of the book.) In Graybill\u2019s lesson, students build paper airplanes, considering variables such as mass, materials, and design, to see which are the most effective. In addition to designing a plane that flies well, students must take into account what the airplane will look like: can it be attractive as well as effective?<\/p>\n<p>It didn\u2019t take long for the students to recognize design\u2019s impact on engineering. While some students chose to draw on the paper to make it more beautiful, others who decorated with paper clips or stickers needed to take into account what the added weight would do to their flight. Some chose heavier cardstock with bright colors, and others chose simple but lightweight copy paper. \u201cI left it to their creativity,\u201d says Graybill. \u201cThat\u2019s engineering\u2014trial and error. Design and redesign. That\u2019s what STEAM is all about: the beauty in science, and the application of science and beauty together.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr class=\"bonusSec\" \/>\n<h2>The 10-Second Bonus Question<\/h2>\n<p><strong class=\"bonus\">Can you top these Guinness World Records?<\/strong><br \/>\nSuzanne, a glider designed by John M. Collins, holds the record for distance flown: <strong class=\"bonus\">226 feet, 10 inches<\/strong>. (It was thrown by Joe Ayoob, a former arena football player.) Sky King, a paper aircraft designed by Takuo Toda, holds the record for flight time. It stayed aloft an incredible <strong class=\"bonus\">29.2 seconds<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Science education lecturer Letitia Graybill encourages her students to approach scientific problems with an artistic outlook.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":2292,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"image_focus":"","hide_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2068","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-currents"],"thumbnail":"<img width=\"300\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/plane6-e1522961845942-300x150.png\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-2292 wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" role=\"presentation\" style=\"object-position:50% 50%;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/plane6-e1522961845942-300x150.png 300w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/plane6-e1522961845942-768x384.png 768w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/plane6-e1522961845942-1024x512.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/plane6-e1522961845942-1120x560.png 1120w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/plane6-e1522961845942-560x280.png 560w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/plane6-e1522961845942-280x140.png 280w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/plane6-e1522961845942-320x160.png 320w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/plane6-e1522961845942-640x320.png 640w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/plane6-e1522961845942-2048x1024.png 2048w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/plane6-e1522961845942-1536x768.png 1536w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/plane6-e1522961845942-1400x700.png 1400w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/plane6-e1522961845942-828x414.png 828w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/plane6-e1522961845942-360x180.png 360w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/plane6-e1522961845942-9x5.png 9w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/04\/plane6-e1522961845942.png 2786w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>","catString":"Currents","issue":"Spring 2018","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2068","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2068"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2068\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11778,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2068\/revisions\/11778"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2068"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2068"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2068"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}