Lesson Plan on Bernoullis Principle

By John Komensky, Bohemia Middle School, New Prague, New Jersey

(Adapted from Harvard Project Zero lessons on Causal Patterns in Air Pressure Phenomena, available at http://www.pz.harvard.edu/ucp/curriculum/pressure/s3_lesson9_lessonplan.htm)

Objectives Develop understanding of Bernouillis principle, in pursuit of New Jersey Science Curriculum Framework goal 5.7 (physics) all students will gain an understanding of natural laws as they apply to motion, forces, and energy transformations. Basic principles of physics emerge in this standard, where the study of force and motion leads students to the concept of energy. All forms of energy are introduced and investigated, and principles of transformation and laws of conservation are developed. Develop thinking and problem-solving skills as described by the Partnrship for 21st Century Skills: Developing, implementing, and communicating new ideas to others. Materials One set of materials per group of students: * Scrap paper * Straw (optional) * Tape * 2"x 8 12" strips of paper * Scissors Ruler Digital video camera Prep Step

 Review the lesson plan, background information, and video shooting guidelines. Ask students to read the section on air pressure from their science textbook, pages 35-37.
Ask students to review the online resource, The Causal Story of Lift, at http://www.pz.harvard.edu/ucp/curriculum/pressure/s3_resources_story.pdf

Analyze Thinking Step 1: Focusing on Current Thinking Provide each student with a piece of paper and a Lift: Bernoulli's Principle activity sheetAcrobat icon. Explain that they will be folding the paper in half like a tent and blowing under it. Ask what they think will happen. They should write their predictions on the activity sheet. RECAST Thinking Step 2: Experimenting With the Paper Tent Have each student fold the piece of paper in half. Then have them place the paper like a tent on a smooth surface. Have them blow under it (they can use a straw if they wish). What happens? Have them test what happens multiple times. Have the students draw a model to explain how the air moved through the paper to flatten it, and why they think this happened. Bring the class back together to discuss what happened: * Ask, "Was the result of your experiment what you had expected?" "Does the paper move toward or away from the fast-moving air?"

* Ask a few students to put their models on the board and to explain them. * Discuss responses from the class, noting why the student predicted as he/she did in each case. * Tell the class about Bernoulli and his principle. Daniel Bernoulli, a famous scientist in the 1700's, studied fluids (anything that flows) such as air and water. He designed a principle to explain the effect of motion on fluid pressure. What Bernoulli found was that as the speed of a fluid increases, the pressure in the fluid decreases. So faster-moving air exerts less pressure than slower-moving air. Sketch of paper tents * Ask, "How does this explain what is going on?" (The paper gets flattened instead of blown away. Why? Because there is a difference in pressure. When you blew under the piece of paper, you made the air move faster, and decreased the air pressure. The air pressure on top was greater than the air pressure underneath. The paper was pushed toward the faster-moving, lower-pressure air.)