Power Hour 52 The Paper Airplane Contest

Power Hour 52 T

he Paper Airplane Contest

The Paper Airplane Contest

One time, the teachers at a school wanted to teach the students about airplanes. While all airplanes can fly, some are able to fly farther than others. This is because not all airplanes are built the same. For example, a fighter plane looks very different from a plane that people fly in when they want to go on a holiday. The teachers wondered how they could make students understand this.

Then, the science teacher, Mr. Moose, decided that the school should have a paper airplane contest. Every student would design a paper airplane. They would stand in a line in the playground behind the school. The students would take turns throwing their airplanes. The student whose airplane went the farthest would win.

When Mr. Moose announced the paper airplane contest to the students, they were very excited. A student named Paul, who was on the wrestling team, bragged to everyone else that his airplane would win. "I am the strongest," Paul said. "So I will be able to throw my airplane the farthest. "However, while Paul was saying this, another student, Brian, was thinking howhe could win. Brian did not play any sports and was not very strong. But he loved airplanes and really wanted to win the contest.

Brian realized what he had to do. He went to the store and bought a big stack of paper. When he got home, he took the paper into his backyard. He took a piece of paper and folded an airplane. It didn't go very far, so Brian took another sheet and folded another airplane and threw it.

This airplane went a little farther. Brian kept folding different kinds of airplanes and throwing them. Some went very far and some did not. Finally, when Brian had used all the paper, he walked up to the airplane that had flown the farthest and picked it up.

The next day was the contest. All the students lined up. Everyone took turns. After a while, everyone had thrown except Paul and Brian. Paul went first. With a mighty yell, he launched the airplane into the sky. It went farther than every other airplane. Everyone clapped.

Finally, it was Brian's turn. Brian took the airplane that he had picked up the day before. He walked up to the line and, with all his strength, he threw the plane. It went flying, farther and farther, until finally it landed - 10 feet past Paul's plane! The whole school cheered. Brian was the winner. Mr. Moose gave him a prize: a toy airplane.

Brian won because he tried out many solutions to the problem of how to make an airplane fly very far. He did this by testing out many different designs and comparing the results. When he found the design that worked best - the paper airplane that flew the farthest - he used it. Because Brian tried a lot of designs, he was

able to make up for his lack of strength and beat Paul.

Multiple Choice

What is the paper airplane contest?

• A. a contest to see which student is the strongest

• B. a contest to see which paper airplane flies the farthest

• C. a contest to see which student can build a fighter plane

Open Ended

8. Who expects to win the paper airplane contest because he is strong?

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