Liceo Scientifico Fermi visits CIRA

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The High school students of Liceo Scientifico Fermi were at first trained with no. 4 video lessons focused on aerodynamics and the physics principles behind the flight.

The Lessons were prepared by CIRA personnel.

The first lesson is an introduction to aerodynamics and flight. The focus is on the presence of aerodynamics in our every day life.

The second and third lessons are focused on two of the most important aerodynamic forces for the flight of airplanes: the drag and the lift. The physical factors that affect them are shown.

The third lesson is on the flight of airplanes. The principal items and their functionality are illustrated: fuselage, wing, vertical and horizontal tail, control surfaces on the wing and the tail. A real airplane in flight, the Partenavia P68, is used in the lesson.

After the visit to Goettingen, each of the four pupils who came to DLR School Lab prepared a power point presentation on one of the topics experienced.

A new way of doing lessons was tried: the four students were teachers for one day: they explained the topic to their fellows.

The remaining students were very interested in this full immersion in the aeronautic sciences.

The four presentations were on the following topics:

• The wind gauge by Luigi Scalzone
• The wind tunnel by Martina D’Anna
• The sound by Maria Arena
• The Depron airplanes by Luigi Rambone

Maria Arena explaining the sound and noise

Martina D’Anna explaining the working principle of a wind tunnel

For each power point presentation a multimedia product in html was prepared. It is available on the website

In order to awaken the pupils to the Noise pollution, a deeper lesson is taken on the sound and noise.

The lesson focuses on the human perception of sound and noise, the audible range (frequency and amplitude) and the response of the human ear. The dB scale is explained.

 

Marika Belardo’s lesson on sound and noise

In the second part of the lesson the guitar is introduced.

The software Scope (free of charge for teaching purposes) is used to understand the concepts of frequency, loudness, tone.

Guitar experiment

Two students are chosen to produce the sound: a boy who studies guitar and a girl who studies singing.

Guitar experiment

The lesson on the Depron airplanes construction shows how it is easy to build a little airplane and understand why tail surfaces and centre of gravity are necessary for stability.

All the steps followed in DLR School Lab Gottingen are explained and shared with the students who didn’t come to Germany. Since the guys are very involved when using their hands, the depron airplanes were built.

Groups of four-five pupils were arranged. Each group was asked to choose one of the available configurations.

Students building depron airplanes

Students building depron airplanes

Students building depron airplanes

They not only made one airplane for each group, but some groups were so enthusiastic that began building a lot of other airplanes.

They arranged a sort of racing, so everyone wanted to have the best airplane!

Students flying depron airplanes

The activities made by the students were also advertised on their school journal and during an afternoon event with all their parents:

The page of the school journal advertising the opportunity given to the students by the project

Invitation to the school event with parents

 

Event at school with parents

After the school activities the students went to CIRA. At CIRA they visited the crash test facility, the structures and material test facility, the transonic wind tunnel test facility and the icing wind tunnel facility. They also performed another experiment: the calibration of the wind gauge they built in DLR School Lab.

All the students were very enthusiastic to be a researcher for one day!

The students at the icing wind tunnel test facility

The students at the crash test facility

The students at structures and material production and tests facility

The students at the transonic wind tunnel test facility

The students performing the calibration of the wind gauge at the small subsonic wind tunnel test facility

All the activities performed by the students and the visit at CIRA are documented by two funny videos with music and voice.