Planes, Gliders and Paper Rockets: Simple Flying Things Anyone Can Make--Kites and Copters, Too! [Book]

Planes, Gliders and Paper Rockets: Simple Flying Things Anyone Can Make--Kites and Copters, Too!
Rick Schertle and James Floyd Kelly

I wish I had found this book a few years ago when my son was younger. It would have greatly helped established my “Dad Credentials” when he came to me with his imaginative and fun project ideas. I am somewhat handy and can make some basic things, but having Planes, Gliders and Paper Rockets around as a ready reference guide sure would have helped. That said, if you have kids who want to start “making”, this is a great, fun place to start.

Planes, Gliders and Paper Rockets provides several projects from paper helicopters (with optional, but cool, LED lights), Rubber band airplanes, kites, foam air rockets and more. According to the book’s preface, this is the first in a series of books from Maker Media and sets a good example for the other books in the series. I’ll certainly be on the lookout for more like this.

Each project provides some basic discussion starters about the scientific concepts involved in each project and then moves into a careful and well illustrated step-by-step guide for building and then flying the project. All the photos are clear and well-captioned. Templates are included when useful and a complete supplies list are provided for each project. Some projects can also be purchased from Make as complete kits, ready to be assembled.

Planes, Gliders and Paper Rockets would be a great book for kids and adults to work through together, over the course of several weeks or months -- growing in skills with each project. Older kids could put together many of these projects on their own, if they were looking for a place to start their own maker adventures.

Of course, a book like this is could also be used in any educational environment to discuss a wide variety of engineering, aeronautical and scientific concepts. Hands-on activities are a great way of clarifying and solidifying new concepts by applying theories as soon as possible after they are learned.

If you’re looking to get away from your computer for a while and enjoy some time making things with your hands instead of just your mind, Planes, Gliders and Paper Rockets is a great place to start.

Rick Schertle is a master at the craft of teaching middle school in San Jose and a novice maker at home. His diverse interests include backyard chickens, adventure travel, veggie oil-fueled cars and geocaching - all made more fun with the enthusiastic support of his wife and the crazy antics of his young son and daughter.

James is a writer who lives in Atlanta, GA with his wife and two young sons. He has degrees in Industrial Engineering and English and enjoys making things, writing about those things, and training young makers. He has written over 25 books on a variety of subjects from LEGO robotics to Open Source software to building your own CNC machine and 3D printer.

Recommended

Microsoft release Outlook.com email services to replace Hotmail

Today Microsoft released its new email service Outlook.com to replace its Hotmail brand. This new streamlined Metro interface design looks good and functions well so far. You can use your existing Microsoft account to log in and then choose an email alias (i.e. douglaswelch@outlook.com) for your new email address. Here are several articles that discuss Outlook.com... Goodbye, Hotmail; Hello, Outlook.com [REVIEW] Outlook Is a Completely New, Feature-Filled Webmail Service from Microsoft Go Get Your @Outlook Email Address Quick Before Someone Else Does I will post links to more articles and reviews as they appear.

Shared calendars are one part of an organized family

by Douglas E. Welch , techiq@welchwrite.com 206-338-5832 Reader/Listener Line As a parent with a school-age child, I often hear other parents bemoaning their disorganized existence. Along with the busy schedules of two working parents you might have art classes, karate classes, Little League, soccer and more. Add in more than one kid and organizing your life can quickly become a nightmare. This is exactly why one of my most important organizing devices is a shared calendar that reflects all the activities and events for everyone in the household...and I do mean everything. If someone -- is required to be somewhere -- at sometime, it goes into the calendar. If we are given a calendar that reflects all the events for a particular activity (say, Little League), all these events immediately go into the calendar, along with notations on whether we are providing the team snack, working in the snack bar, etc. Even events that occur anytime during the day, like family birthdays, and other rem...

Google Docs adds templates

I have started to move away from using Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, etc) in favor of online tools like Google Docs . Even as a computer consultant, I find that I use probably less than 10% of the features in any of these projects. One feature I really like in Google Docs is the easy, online file sharing that also allows you to edit simultaneously with someone else. Today, Google Docs added some templates including business cards, brochures and more. At the moment, it looks like they are rolling out this feature over time, so you might not yet see the templates on your account. When available, you will find the templates under the New... menu item. From Open Loops ... Today, Google quietly rolled out a new feature for their Google Docs Applications: Templates! It's so new that it isn't even listed on the new features page at this time. When one opens their Google Docs account and chooses to start a new document, a new "From Template..." command is pre...

TechnologyIQ

Search This Blog