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Lesson context: This lesson plan prompts students to develop and categorize important  questions that need to be answered when selecting the best aircraft for a mission.  While developing these questions students learn about the four forces of flight, other factors that may affect the success of the mission, the remote sensing instrument requirements, and flight planning. 

Key science concepts:

• The four forces of flight: lift, drag, weight, and thrust

• Bernoulli's principle of lift

• Weather patterns and flight  

• The elements of a flight plan

Links to teacher resources:

• Additional Sample Experiments in Aerodynamics
• K-8 Principles of Aeronautics

Problems addressed in this lesson:

• What questions need to be answered when choosing the appropriate aircraft for an airborne remote sensing mission?
• How do various aerodynamic factors, e.g., lift, weight, drag, and thrust, affect flight?
• What is the relationship among aircraft characteristics, remote sensing instrumentation characteristics, and mission planning requirements? 
• What are the factors that need to be considered during mission planning?

Activity bursts:

• Exploration of factors related to the aircraft and remote sensing instruments – Activity: Kite selection
• Exploration of weather and flight – (1) (2) (3)
• Exploration of the flight planning process – Activity: Plan to fly there (Note: this is an Adobe Acrobat File)

Links to other resources: