| It can be tough coming up with science fair project | | | | Research Topics |
| ideas on your own. Sometimes we need a little help. | | | | If science fair project ideas like this one appeals to you, |
| Here is a science project that might work for you. | | | | I may know a little about the words you will be using a |
| For this project you will need to know a little bit about | | | | lot of if you do this project, but you will still want to |
| skydivers. A skydiver is a person who jumps from an | | | | research them. You will need to know more in order to |
| airplane while it is flying. The airplane must be flying a | | | | do the project well. Here is a list of the subjects you |
| certain number of feet off the ground or altitude for | | | | will want to do some research on, so that you will |
| the skydiver to be able to jump and land safely with a | | | | have a better understanding of what they are and |
| parachute. | | | | what they mean. |
| The skydiver jumps from the airplane and will free-fall | | | | - Parachute |
| for a little bit before pulling the rip cord to open the | | | | - Air resistance |
| parachute. The parachute will then slow down the | | | | - Drag |
| skydiver's fall so he or she will land safely on the | | | | - Load |
| ground. If the skydiver falls too fast, his landing wouldn't | | | | - Gravity |
| be nearly as gentle and the skydiver would probably | | | | - Surface area |
| get hurt. Remember, as science fair ideas go, this is a | | | | Questions |
| topic and experiment overview. | | | | All experiments and science fair projects have a |
| How does the parachute work? | | | | question to answer. The answer to the question is the |
| When the skydiver jumps from the airplane, the force | | | | reason we do experiments. We want to know the |
| of gravity it pulling him or her to the ground at a very | | | | answer. Here are some questions you might have with |
| high speed, the parachute is able to slow the skydiver's | | | | this project. |
| fall because of air resistance or drag. Air gets | | | | - How does a parachute work? |
| underneath the parachute and pushes it back up. This | | | | - Does the size of the parachute make it work better? |
| creates a force, which is opposite of the force of | | | | - Will the parachute work, if it were larger or smaller? |
| gravity, which is pulling the skydiver down. | | | | - Will increasing the diameter of the parachute make it |
| While the skydiver falls slowly, these two forces of | | | | bigger? |
| pushing air up and gravity pulling him down are close to | | | | Materials and Equipment |
| being equal or in balance. The air resistance force is | | | | This is a list of some of the items you will need to |
| just a little less than the gravity force and because of | | | | complete your project. |
| this the skydiver floats down to the ground. | | | | Heavy weight garbage bags Metric ruler Scissors |
| So ask yourself this question, is the size of the | | | | Washers Twist ties Light weight string Stopwatch |
| parachute important? Could it be smaller or larger and | | | | This article on science fair project ideas using |
| still work the same way? What does the diameter of | | | | parachutes is continued in "Science fair project ideas - |
| the parachute have to do with the size of the | | | | Quick and easy project #1 - Parachutes - Part 2". |
| parachute? | | | | |