🧪 Science with Sarah: Paper Airplane Launchers ✈️

👉 Watch the video of Sarah’s school science experiment above!

Hello parents, teachers and students! Today’s experiment is all about potential and kinetic energy.

Be sure to check out GMSA@9 on Wednesdays, when Meteorologist Sarah Spivey demonstrates and explains the science behind it.

HERE’S WHAT YOU’LL NEED

• Piece of cardstock
• Thick rubber band

DO THE ACTIVITY

• Make a paper airplane using cardstock. The plane needs to be thicker than regular paper to hold the pressure of the rubber band
• Here’s how to make a paper airplane with pictures:
  • Fold the cardstock in half lengthwise
  • Fold in the two corners of the paper, meeting in the middle

• Fold those two corners onto each other, meeting in the middle

• Make the wings
• Make a “slingshot” using a thick rubber band and your fingers
• Place the paper airplane in the cradle of the slingshot. It should look like this

• Give yourself plenty of room, let go of the rubber band, and watch your paper airplane fly!

HOW IT WORKS

This is a great example of the difference between POTENTIAL and KINETIC energy.

Believe it or not, energy cannot be created or destroyed. The total amount of energy in the entire universe already exists and remains constant. Even if you can’t see energy, it is stored all around us. That “stored” energy is called potential energy.

The rubber band represents potential energy. As you stretch it, it contains more and more energy.

When you let go of the rubber band, the potential energy is converted to kinetic energy, or energy in motion!

SCIENCE WITH SARAH

If you’d like Sarah to come to your school and conduct a science experiment live on KSAT, fill out this form. “Winners” are selected at random.