Whoa! STEM in under 10 mins and all you need to do is go raid the computer printer! What a win for inexpensive STEM activities that are also quick, fun, and educational. Today we made simple air foils and explored this air resistance STEM activity as a a quick after camp project. Homemade STEM activities and science experiments are awesome!

AIR RESISTANCE STEM ACTIVITY FOR KIDS

WHAT IS STEM?

As always, it’s important to give a quick overview of what STEM actually is! STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and math. So important to incorporate into lesson plans. We have put together a handy STEM resource with awesome ideas here.

This awesome air resistance STEM activity requires so little set up and simple to grab supplies. We happened to have a bunch of colored computer paper but ordinary white paper will do too! Check out more fun physics for kids here.

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We checked out a very cool book from the library called Making Origami Science Experiments Step by Step by Michael LaFosse, and in it we found this little gem of a STEM activity with building paper foils using simple origami folds.

I hadn’t thought about the combination of origami and science or STEM, but it is the perfect project especially if you just have few minutes. Read more about air resistance science below.

Of course there are many ways to extend this activity into a longer lesson, and I will share some thoughts on that below. Plus we have a handy free printable you can download at the end of this activity post.

SUPPLIES- Affiliate links included for convenience

Printer/Computer Paper

Origami Science Book {optional for this activity}

GETTING STARTED

All you need is a few sheets of paper, an open area, and our handy STEM activity printable sheet if you want to extend the lesson. Since you want to conduct an experiment here, you will want to have some trial runs with different air foils.

To start, you want a control test which will just be your unfolded piece of paper.

ASK QUESTIONS TO ENCOURAGE OBSERVATIONS AND CRITICAL THINKING

Hold the paper out at arms length and release! What happens? What do you notice about the paper moving through the air? Does it drop quickly or slowly? Does it float around a bit or drop straight down?

These are all good points to record in your journal if you are extending the learning portion of this air resistance STEM activity. {Learn more about air resistance below}

Could you test different types of paper against each other?

HOW TO MAKE ORIGAMI AIR FOILS

Luckily this is so simple as I remember some of the crazy origami folds I used to try and make from instructions!

By now you may have developed your hypothesis, which might be: Do different shapes of paper have different air resistance?

To test our thoughts on air resistance, we need to change the shape of the paper and we are going to do it with an origami fold which is called the valley fold.

We chose to make 3 paper air foils all with varying amounts of folds. 1/4 way up the paper, 1/2 way up the paper, and 3/4 way up the paper.

Check out the 1/2 way up air foil below.

A valley fold is not how you would fold a paper fan. You are not flipping back and forth but rather folding the paper over it self until you get to the 1/2 way point or whatever point you choose to test.

The last step for creating your paper air foil is to fold the edges over once on each side as seen below. Nothing fancy. Just a quick and simple air foil with computer paper!

Now it’s time to test out what you know about air resistance. Take your control air foil {the unfolded paper} and test it with the newly folded air foil. Hold both out at arms length and release.

What happens? What observations can you note? What kinds of conclusions can you draw?

Kids of all ages can participate in this activity! The younger kids will happily enjoy this playful STEM activity and can talk about what they see. While older kids, can take notes and record observations, draw their own conclusions and come up with more experiments!

We then made an even smaller air foil by valley folding the paper even more! Try another test between the two folded air foils and the unfolded paper. What happens? Observation skills, critical thinking skills, as well as the ability to persist through failure are all great lessons learned form simple STEM activities.

The difference is not as noticeable but the more compact air foil definitely hit the ground first. What other shapes of air foils can you come up with? We also chose to try out a scrunched up paper ball. You could also test out different paper airplanes in a similar fashion. I have these paper airplane templates bookmarked that we enjoy.

WHAT IS THE SCIENCE BEHIND AIR RESISTANCE?

Of course you want to be able to add in a bit of the science behind this air resistance STEM activity! How does air resistance affect the speed of a falling object like a paper air foil. I bet you have already figured that one out!

Small particles and gasses make up air, so an object with a greater surface area will fall more slowly through the air as it has to deal with the resistance or friction of the air. Increase the surface area and the object will fall more slowly. Decrease the surface area and it will speed up!

You can also experiment to see if throwing the object, thus increasing t’s speed, has any affect on the object. Does it make a difference if you are outside or inside?

There are quite a few ways that you can experiment with air resistance and surface area!

MORE STEM IN 10 MINUTES OR LESS!

Make sure to try out this separation science activity with salt, pepper, and static electricity!

Check out exploring gravity with our simple activities that use exactly what you have and get the kids moving.

Looking for more STEM in 10 minutes or less? Try a classic structure building activity with candy and toothpicks, building a 100 cup tower, or try a simple LEGO zip line challenge.

There are tons of STEM activities out there that are easy to set up, take very little time to demonstrate or try, and don’t cost a fortune. Here, we want to show you that STEM is accessible for everyone from a classroom full of kids to a family at home.