SciGirls Parachute Parade
Hosted by: Austin PBS, KLRU-TV
Recommended Grades: 6th, 7th, 8th
The Challenge: Design a parachute to give a toy minifigure, lego, or another object a safe landing. Create the slowest, safest landing parachute you can using any materials. Time your landings when dropping from a set height - how slow can you get it to drop?
Recommended Materials: paper, toilet paper rolls, paper towel rolls, tubing, boxes, tape, marbles or anything that can roll or simulate the party snack
STEM Connections: Engineers have to figure out how to get design parachutes to safely land skydivers, medicine or other things that may be dropped to the ground. And scientists have to figure out what materials work best for parachutes so that they don't rip, twist or tear. Skydivers rely on parachutes to slow them down as they fall from frightening heights. Parachutes catch air and create drag, a force that works against gravity. Parachutes are usually large and made of lightweight materials, so they create the most drag possible without adding a lot of weight.
Download the Activity Handout for more information:
Activity Video
Check out the video of Bicycle Engineer: Rachel Gitajn. Rachel turned her passion for art, engineering and the outdoors into a dream job designing bikes that she loves to ride. Just like engineers have to design parachutes to safely and slowly land people, engineers have to design other contraptions that people and pets use every day.
Find the full collection of SciGirls activities, episodes, and role model videos at https://klru.pbslearningmedia.org/collection/scigirls/.
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