Lighter Than Air: Building a Hot Air Balloon Grade Level(s)

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LessonTitle

LighterThanAir:BuildingaHotAirBalloon

GradeLevel(s)

38

Timeline

34Days

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Objectives

● Studentswillbuildaworkingmodelofahotairballoon.

● Studentswillunderstandtheconceptthathotairislighterthancoolair,becauseit

haslessmassperunitofvolume.

● Studentswillbeabletomodellighterthanairflight.

● Studentswillbeabletodescribethedifferencebetweenhotairballoonsandgas

balloons.

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Standards

MSETS14.Developamodeltogeneratedataforiterativetestingandmodificationofa

proposedobject,tool,orprocesssuchthatanoptimaldesigncanbeachieved.

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MSPS14.Developamodelthatpredictsanddescribeschangesinparticlemotion,

temperature,andstateofapuresubstancewhenthermalenergyisaddedorremoved.

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CrosscuttingConcepts:CauseandEffect,EnergyandMatter,StructureandFunction

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ScienceandEngineeringPractices:DevelopingandUsingModels,Constructing

ExplanationsandDesigningSolutions

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LessonOverview

Inthisactivity,studentsworkinteamstoconstructahotairballoonoutoftissuepaperto

demonstratehowahotairballoonflies.Theywilldevelopaconceptualmodeltoexplain

whytheballoonriseswhenheated.

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Materials

● TissuePaper(20”X30”)21sheetsperballoon

● GlueSticks

● Stapler

● Cardstock(11/2inchstripsenoughtomakea10”diameterring)

● String

● Stapler

● HotAirGun

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Vocabulary

Density:Themeasureofhowmuchmatterisinacertainvolume.

Fluid:Asubstancethathasnofixedshapeandyieldseasilytoexternalpressure;agasora

liquid.

Pressure:Thecontinuousphysicalforceexertedonoragainstanobjectbysomethingin

contactwithit.

Gravity:Theforcethatattractsabodytowardthecenteroftheearth.

Gore:Asectorofacurvedsurface.

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LessonPlan

Day12:Build

● Createthetemplate.Thiscanbedoneinadvancetosavetime.

○ Printoutthetemplateandtapetogether,cutalongthecurvedline.

■ Thetemplateisforhalfofthegore(eachindividualpieceiscalleda

gore).Youwillneedtofoldapieceofbutcherpaperinhalf,tracethe

gore,cut,andunfoldit.Donotcutalongthefold.

○ Transferthetemplatetocardboardorfoamboard.(Optional:Thisishelpfulif

buildingmultipleballoons.)

● Buildthetissuepaperpanels.

○ Overlapsheetsoftissuepaperby1inchandgluetogetherusingagluestick.

○ Youwillneed3sheetsoftissuepaperperpanel. 

○ Youwillneed7totalpanels.

● Stackthe7panelsontopofeachother.

● Laythetemplateontopofthepanelstackandcutall7layersatonce.

● Select2goresandlaythemontopofeachother.

● Leavea1/2inchmargintotherightsogore#2shows.(Diagram1)

● Applyalineofgluealongthe1/2inchmarginofthebottomgore.(Diagram2)

● Foldthebottomgoreontothetopgore.(Diagram3)

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● Placegore3ontopofgores1and2leavinga1/2inchmarginontheleft.

● Applyasolidlineofgluealongthe1/2inchmarginofgore2.

● Foldgore2ontogore3.

● Repeatthisprocessfortheremaining4gores.

● Jointhefreeedgesofgore1andgore7.Thiswillcreateacirclewhenopened.

● Hint:Asyougluebesuretooccasionallymakesurethefoldsarenotsticking

together.

● Tiethetopoftheballoontogetherusingstringorribbon,1/21inchfromthetop.

● Usingcardstockandstaplescreatea10inchring.

● Placetheringinsidethemouthoftheballoon,loopthetissuepaperaroundthe

cardstockring,andstaple.

● Hint:Youmayhavetofoldthetissuepapertogethertomakeitfitsnuglyaroundthe

ring.

● Lettheballoondrycompletelybeforelaunching.

● Patchanyholesorripsintheballoonbygluingleftovertissuepaperoverthe

opening.

● Iflaunchinginaplacewithlimitedspace,youcanattachatetherbystaplingstring

totheinsideoftheringandsecuringtheotherendtothefloor.

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Day3:Launch

● With2or3people,gentlypickupballoonandbegintopullfoldsouttoshapethe

balloon.

● Holdthebottomoftheballoonoveraheatgun.

● Turnontheheatgunandallowtheballoontofillupandtakeshape.

○ Startwithcoolairifavailable.

■ DiscussionQuestion:Whyisn’ttheballoonflying?

○ Turnonthehotair.

■ DiscussionQuestion:Whydoestheballoonflynow?

● WARNING:Heatgunsgetveryhot,usecautionwhenholdingtheballoon.

● Astheballoonbeginstopullupward,releaseandenjoytheflight.

● WARNING:DoNOTlaunchinthevicinityofpowerlines!!!

● Havestudentscreatediagramsshowingwhatishappeningtotheairinsidethe

balloonandwhyitisflying.

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Diagrams

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Diagram1

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DiscussionQuestions

● Whydidthehotairballoonfloat?

● Whatwashappeningtotheairmoleculesinsidetheballoon?

● Howcouldweimprovethedesignofourhotairballoon?

● Usingyourknowledgeofhowahotairballoonflies,canyoumakeaguessabout

howheliumballoonsfloat?

● Whatwouldbesomeadvantagesordisadvantagestoflyinginahotairballoon?

● Whymightthehotairballoonbeshapedlongandnarrow,ratherthanroundlikea

birthdayballoon?

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Extensions

● Designabaskettocarryweightsandhavestudentscompetetoseewhoseballoon

liftsthemost.

● Comparetheliftingcapacityofyourhotairballoontoheliumballoons.

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Resources

● HowStuffWorksHotAirBalloons:

http://science.howstuffworks.com/transport/flight/modern/hotairballoon.htm

● HotAirBalloonGoreTemplate

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