Air Drop Relief Packages

First grade studied air and learned a lot about how parachutes and planes travel through the air. We used what we learned about these two activities to create air drop packages. Students listened to an audio that described a real world problem with floods. When their is floods in communities, people usually lose most of their things or they get damaged by the water of the flood. Until they can replace their things, they need temporary things to help them survive. Students quickly came up with many ideas of how we could help people who suffer from a tragic event like this. We used the engineering design process to help us solve this real world problem.

First students came up with ideas of sending them boxes of all the things they need. Their items they wanted were perfect. We discussed the difference between want and need. Next, we had to figure out how we would send these boxes to them without them getting wet. The class decided the best way would be by plane since Thailand is so far away. I explained that it might be hard for the airplane driver to land a plane if the ground was covered in water. Students quickly decided that we could drop them off the plain. This brought the problem of the packages getting wet. Students started brainstorming how they could stay dry and how they would stay safe from a high drop. The overall solution was to attach a parachute, put a floaty under it, and wrap the package with water resistant material.

The next step in the engineering design process was for students to make a plan. Students worked with their group members to develop a drawing of their air drop package design. Once these were completed, students went to work. They created their packages and most of them looked just like their plan. After everyone completed their design, we took them to the balcony on the third floor of the school. Each group dropped their packages over the railing. Some fell hard and others drifted gently.  When we got back to class, we opened up our packages. Inside we had pasta noodles and marbles. If the packages fell hard, the pasta would break. This would mean that the items in the package got damaged and they need to go back and create a stronger design. Many students packaged didn't have any broken pasta. This means that they successfully developed a design that would make it safely to the victims affected by the flood. We had a blast doing this activity and creating a way to help others.