JoinTried and True: Taking flight with an inquiry approach
This paper airplane lesson has been used with sixth-grade students to introduce scientific terms and concepts that students need to know before they design and conduct their own inquiry experiments. In addition to science concepts, mathematics skills are embedded in this lesson as students measure paper airplane flights to the nearest centimeter and calculate range, mode, and median in a hands-on way. The 5E model provides a way to organize inquiry-based instruction, and focuses on actively involving students in the learning process (Carin, Bass, and Contant 2005).