Research

Gerlach, Jonathan W. “Elementary Design Challenges.” Science and Children 47, no 7 (March 2010): 43–47. 
http://www.jstor.org/stable/43175605.

Summary:  5th-grade students complete an activity to explore force and motion by building airplanes out of household items. The teacher in this article uses the design process, allowing students multiple chances to revise their project when things aren’t working. The class starts by partaking in a real-world engagement activity, such as watching videos of real airplanes and how they fly. The students then discuss the different forces that act on an airplane. The class is split into groups of two and given limited supplies to build their airplanes, seeing which group's plane can fly the farthest. Teachers should check for misconceptions throughout the activity and remind them to think of real airplanes rather than the paper airplanes they may be used to making. After students completed and tested their planes, they hypothesized why their planes were unsuccessful and made revisions.