This may or may not be the right place to post this, but here goes.

I was asked to give a presentation to a gifted program class, I think it is called STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) for a class of 3rd, 4th and 5th grade students. They said to plan an activity. So this isn't a "how did you become a pilot" or "a day in the life of a pilot" talk. They said it is supposed to be educational, promote thinking and interaction and will hopefully include an activity. Has anyone done this? Any ideas for this? I was thinking about something to do with teaching lift, but not sure if that will just put them to sleep.

If these are truly gifted students, there is a very good chance that they are already smarter than me and most pilots I know so I don't want to embarrass myself

 

Bring a bunch of those balsa wood planes and hand them out. Theyll have a blast putting them together and flying them as you describe what causes lift. Dont overthink it, kids get a kick out of pilots visiting their class. Dont forget to report back some of their questions!

 

wear your uniform also, the kids will like that. "a real pilot" etc stuff

versus not, and 25 "where is your uniform at" questions

 

Break the ice by asking if they like movies about gladiators, they won't get it but it will be funny to you.

Here are some FAA resources: https://www.faa.gov/education/educat...um/elementary/

I've done a 45 minute 5th grade presentation on latitude and longitude and how oceanic routes flex due to wind. We talk about the jet stream (very general) and how/why it changes. We also do a review of lat/long which has already been introduced in the classroom. For the exercise, I split the kids into groups of 5 and give each one a plotting chart and a "flight plan" which is just a series of about 10-15 lat/longs to plot. Each kid makes a few plots, one kid connects the dots. Not rocket science but it allows the kids to see real world application of lat/long position data with a meteorology backdrop. For bonus points you could put a storm lat/long near the track and give coordinates to deviate around weather.

 

Just play this clip for the class:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNxz2hhSXuY

 

I did the poor man's version of that, back when my twins were in 3rd grade. I had all the kids make paper airplanes and then fly them for distance, showed them how to bend the wingtips (talked about ailerons) to make them roll, right and left, then bend up the 'elevator' to show them how it would loop (or stall, without enough thrust). We had contests with prizes for most distance and for loops/rolls and spot landings.

You need to do this in the gym, obviously, or out on the play ground if the wind is light and it's not raining, but the kids loved it. They decorated their airplanes too, with crayons of course, but they came up with some pretty imaginative stuff.

When you are done with that, you can teach them how to make a PA like a real Captain too!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqkOi2AdjLw

 

Lol, I'm not envious of your position. Back when most of us we're "smarter than a fifth grader", I did a project with an elementary class that involved Bernoullis principle, etc... However, today, if you don't walk in there with a composite, solar powered airplane, with a food replicator on board, you're liable to just be laughed right off of the school grounds. Oh and most likely " bullied" on facebook.

Good luck.

 

Start out with how much you are underpaid and no one appreciates you. That works with everyone I meet.

The balsa glider sounds like a good start. Maybe a short video. That 787 demo from Paris, I think, is pretty impressive.

 

I did a Bernoulli demo.

Wearing a pilot suit; some kids interested, some bored.

Started by having them all get a #2 pencil and a sheet of paper. Showed them how to hold it, with the paper curled around the top-side of a horizontal pencil.

So I ask several kids at random: "What will happen if you blow on the top of the paper?"

Predictably, they all said "It will go down." There seemed to be a lot of implied "Duh!" cynicism in their response.

"Try it," I said.

They did, and the look of amazement on their faces when it went UP was priceless. The teacher, too.

I had their rapt attention for the next 45 minutes. Some of them kept blowing on that "wing" the entire time, trying to figure out why it was so.

That was a fun day.

 

One reason aviation interests so many people is because it involves so many different aspects that almost anyone can find some part they like. Since this is a STEM presentation make sure you hit each of those areas in a different way so you appeal to a larger portion of the audience.

Science: principles of flight, weather, how flying affects the body
Technology: modern cockpits, electronic charts, dispatch tracking tech
Engineering: there's some videos on you tube of 777 wing stress tests
Math: descent planning, lat/long

Good luck and have fun!