Orlando, Angel and Juan Carlos

8th Grade
Alianza
UCSC Center

MESA DAY
2022-2023

ENGINEERING LAB BOOK REQUIREMENT

NAMES:_Orlando Israel Cazales Mendoza__Angel Gabriel Kyrie Leon Ayala Aviles
__Juan Carlos Jimenez Lopez Ramirez Hernandez Roselio (team member names)

SCHOOL:__Alianza Charter School__

CENTER: _UCSC_
PROJECT: _Cargo Glider_
(e.g. Cargo Glider, MESA Machine, Moon Base)

LEVEL (circle one): 6th gr 7/8th gr 9/10th gr 11/12th gr

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 Orlando, Angel and Juan Carlos
8th Grade
Alianza
UCSC Center
1. IDENTIFY THE PROBLEM

What is the challenge being worked on?

(what is being designed/built, and how will it be evaluated…)
The challenge that I and my team are working on is making a glider capable of
taking the cargo, flying above the necessary requirement, and making it also fly
the furthest.

What are the limits/constraints?

(what can’t you do per the rules, other constraints…)
The limits are materials, time, and place. We can’t place the cargo in certain
areas, or else the glider will fall.

How do you think you can solve it?

(What will you design and make? What could it be like?)
We could make a glider that has semi-bended sides for the wings and a tiny wing
at the tail, we could place the cargo in the middle, with the wings.

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 Orlando, Angel and Juan Carlos
8th Grade
Alianza
UCSC Center

2. EXPLORE

What is a “real-world” example of your project OR concept?

(e.g. if building a glider, find a picture of an actual, working glider)
Place a picture OR screenshot of a video below:

Briefly describe the example in your picture (location, history, use, etc)

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 Orlando, Angel and Juan Carlos
8th Grade
Alianza
UCSC Center
It's an electrical glider that is similar to my concept. It is named the Taurus Electro.

Find out what else has been done to solve your problem (research). Clearly list
at least 3 sources (web pages, articles, books, etc.). Identify (cite) and describe
each one (one sentence).

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 Orlando, Angel and Juan Carlos
8th Grade
Alianza
UCSC Center
Source #1 -
The Shape of a Glider - California Science & Engineering Fair
https://csef.usc.edu › History › Projects

Citation: “The best shape for a glider to fly the farthest is to have larger, turned-up
wings with larger airfoils. On average the planes with turned-up wings flew farther than
their counterparts with not turned-up wings.”

Description: “have larger, turned-up wings with larger airfoils. “

How can this source connect to/inform your project?

It can help us determine how we can make the glider fly further.

Source #2:
https://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/handbooks_manuals/aviation/glider_ha
ndbook/media/gfh_ch03.pdf
Citation: (none)

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 Orlando, Angel and Juan Carlos
8th Grade
Alianza
UCSC Center

Description:

How can this source connect to/inform your project?

We can use this information to know that we must angle the wings as well.

Source #3: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/learn/project/make-a-paper-glider/

Citation: “1. Explore wing designs
When you think about airplanes, there’s a good chance you think of a plane with
wings extending out on either side of the plane. The wings provide the lift that helps
the airplane fly. But airplane wings also produce drag, which the airplane has to use
energy to overcome. To solve this problem, engineers who design airplanes have
come up with different wing designs that aim to increase lift and reduce drag,
including "box plans" and "ring wings." “

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 Orlando, Angel and Juan Carlos
8th Grade
Alianza
UCSC Center

Description: Basically, mess around with the wings.

How can this source connect to/inform your project?

It tells us to experiment on the wings, we could do that.

3. DESIGN
Brainstorm ideas (at least 3) and record them. Include a sketch or drawing for
each.
Idea #1:

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 Orlando, Angel and Juan Carlos
8th Grade
Alianza
UCSC Center
Idea #2:

Idea #3:

Select one of the ideas and describe a plan for building it (at least 5 sentences).

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 Orlando, Angel and Juan Carlos
8th Grade
Alianza
UCSC Center
We can add two wings. We can also make one set of wings longer than the other.
We can also add fins to the front. We should place the ping pong balls under the
wings. Finally, we could angle the wings.

Generate a list of materials for the prototype.

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 Orlando, Angel and Juan Carlos
8th Grade
Alianza
UCSC Center
- Balsa wood
- Glue gun
- Ruler
- pen
- Box cutter

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 Orlando, Angel and Juan Carlos
8th Grade
Alianza
UCSC Center
4. CREATE
Using your plan, build your prototype (at least five sentences). Include a
picture of the actual project prototype built.

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 Orlando, Angel and Juan Carlos
8th Grade
Alianza
UCSC Center
We first cut a board that was 0.1 inches thick. It was 9 inches long. The wings
were 11.5 inches away from each other. 2 inches away from the nose of the
plane. And about 9 inches away from the tail wing. And we used two triangles
on each side. We used a long stick as the center that was 18 inches long and half
an inch thick. We glued the board to the top of the stick and then glued the
triangles to the wings. To finish it up, we glued a train to it which was 0.1 inches
thick and 3 x 9 inches long.

5. TRY IT OUT
Test your idea/prototype. Describe at least 3 trials/attempts. Use
tables/charts as needed.
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 Orlando, Angel and Juan Carlos
8th Grade
Alianza
UCSC Center
Test #1:

Criteria:
- First time testing and it glided with ease for around 2.5 seconds before
crashing down, nose first.
Results:
- We found out that we needed to add more leverage on the wings.

Test #2:

Criteria:
- The test was a failure, the glider went nose down once more and it
shattered into three pieces, divided first at the place where the wing meets
the body, and the part of the body that was attached to the tail was also
broken.
Results:
- Glider one was a failure.

Test #3:

Criteria:
- the glider has been upgraded, it now has protection on the nose, it's light,
its body is twice as strong and its wings have higher angles.
Results:
- the glider glided for about 2.25 seconds and fell to the ground 30ft after
launch, only one ping pong ball was used.
- Second ping pong ball was attached and it went 25 ft the first time and the
second time, it went 26ft.

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 Orlando, Angel and Juan Carlos
8th Grade
Alianza
UCSC Center

*Teams may include additional tables, graphs, and charts of their own. Teams are not limited to
only using the graph and table shown here.

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 Orlando, Angel and Juan Carlos
8th Grade
Alianza
UCSC Center

Use of mathematical concepts/equations:

Applicable math concept/equation (state concept/equation):

Aerodynamics

How was the concept/equation used?

(demonstrate the use of concept/equation as it pertained to the project):

Drag, Gravity, Thrust, & Lift

Applicable math concept/equation (state concept/equation):

Physics

How was the concept/equation used?

(demonstrate the use of concept/equation as it pertained to the project):

Fs = 6πrηv

FD= (½) CρAv^2

FD ∝ v2

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 Orlando, Angel and Juan Carlos
8th Grade
Alianza
UCSC Center
6. MAKE IT BETTER
How can you make the project better? What modifications will you be making
( state at least 5)?

Modification/Improvement #1:
Higher the angle of the wings.

Modification/Improvement #2:
Add protection to the nose, we used clay.

Modification/Improvement #3:
Make the body twice as thick.

Modification/Improvement #4:
Add triangles to the wing's sides.

Modification/Improvement #5:
Add more support to the wings.

Modification/Improvement #6:
We halved the clay protection of the nose.

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 Orlando, Angel and Juan Carlos
8th Grade
Alianza
UCSC Center

Build and prepare a competition-ready project. Include a picture below.

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Orlando, Angel and Juan Carlos
8th Grade
Alianza
UCSC Center

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Orlando, Angel and Juan Carlos
8th Grade
Alianza
UCSC Center

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