Today's Classroom Activities :
More Kite Fun
Let's Go Fly a Kite
Art/Math Fold two sheets of colored 8 1/2" x 11" paper into quarters. Keeping the first sheet folded, cut a straight diagonal line from the bottom center and fold to the outer top fold. Set aside. On the second kite, cut on all the folds to form four small triangles. Glue two of these on the first kite in opposing corners. Do the same with the other two triangle shapes. Glue the shapes down. Decorate the kite, add yarn or string ends and hang. Have students make fact-family kites by adding numbers or parts of speech being studied, etc.
PBS Kids: Dragonfly TV: Kites
Learn how a kite's shape can affect how it will fly. Also includes some projects you can try to see how shape and size can affect a kite's flight.
Kites & Flight
Science Use this popular spring sport to teach about the yaw, pitch, roll, lift and drag that relates to kites as well as to aircraft. Visit the website www.nationalkitemonth.org to study kite designs and plans, and read the explanations for all of the above factors. Ask your students to make some kites, fly them and compare their flights. Also have the class read the article on the website about kite safety before heading out to fly them.
All About Kites
This informative text shows the many uses of kites, as well as giving readers directions on how to make their own kite.
You Stay Here!
Poetry/Science Discuss what it is that makes kites fly. What do shape and proportion have to do with it? Have all of your students had the opportunity to fly kites? Enjoy the following poem together and discuss if it is a true representation of kite flying. Then ask your students to write about their kite-flying experiences.
My Kite
by Martin Shaw
It loops and dives and soars about
Just like a bird on high.
It sails above the tops of trees
On puffs of air 'twill fly.
Just like a horse, it pulls and tugs,
For that's how kites do play.
But with both hands I clutch its strings
So it can't fly away.
Tetrahedral Kites
In this lesson, students work together in groups to create tetrahedron models using straws, string, and tissue paper. The models are then combined to make larger tetrahedrons, and students compare the ratios of edge length, area, and volume of the models in an attempt to understand scaling factors.
Japanese Kite Stories
During a unit on Japan, students will participate in this activity to assist them in understanding a segment of Japanese culture. Student will create a kite and discuss the story their kite is representing.
