Week 06 · Tuesday: Slow Drop (Builder's Lab)

Tuesday: Air Pushes Back

Raven holds a flat sheet and a crumpled paper ball.

She lets them go at the same time.

The ball drops fast. The flat sheet floats and wobbles down.

"Same paper!" Rocket says.

Nova blinks. "Interesting. The air is doing something. What do you notice?"

Air resistance

Gravity pulls a falling thing down.

Air pushes up against it as it falls.

This push is called air resistance, or drag.

Bigger catches more

A parachute has a big top called a canopy.

The canopy catches lots of air.

A larger canopy makes more drag.

More drag means a slower fall.

Try it

Hold a flat sheet and a crumpled sheet up high.
Let go of both at once.
Which one lands first?

Safety first

Stand on the floor, not on a chair.
Drop paper only, nothing heavy.

AIR CHECK

Read the question.
Tap your answer.

Which force pulls a parachute down?

Which canopy makes more drag?

Idea	True or false?
Air pushes up on a falling parachute.	?
The flat sheet and the ball fell the same way.	?
More drag means a slower fall.	?

WHY THIS EXERCISEShape and size change how much the air pushes back.

Same paper, different shapes

The flat sheet and the ball were the same paper.

The flat sheet was spread out wide.

Spread out things catch more air as they fall.

A canopy spreads out wide too.

GRAVITY AND AIR

Read the question.
Tap your answer.

Which force pushes up on a falling parachute?

What is another name for air resistance?

What is the canopy?

The flat sheet fell slower than the ball. Why?

A FALLING PARACHUTE

Tap a card.
Then tap its spot.

1First

2Next

3Then

4Last

Try it

Drop a flat sheet, a half sheet and a crumpled sheet.
Let go of each from the same height.
Put them in order from slowest to fastest.

Safety first

Stand on the floor.
Drop paper only.

Draw the three papers falling. Show which one was slowest.

You know why parachutes work!

Tomorrow, we build version 1.