The Parachute Craft

Thursday (09/03/2012)

a) Parachutes comparisons.
l Leonardo’s pyramid sketch was of pyramid shape. Kids brainstormed together and realized that it can’t be folded into a bag; it would be heavy to carry up to a height, plus it might be bigger than the helicopter or aeroplane.
l The modern parachutes generally come in 2 shapes; the round one like a jellyfish and the longer one. They are friendlier and convenient. Today’s parachute also has the steering to steer to the desired landing area and will be safer too.

b) Usage of Parachutes.
l Generally three purposes: i) For emergency rescue from any aeroplane or helicopter fire. ii) cargo parachute to send goods to save victims of flood, Earthquake and etc. iii) Sports performance.

c) Step-by-step Parachute Making.* The kids listened and observed. 1) Take a recycled plastic. Use a marker pen to draw a “V”shape and cut along the line. Make 4 holes using a pencil. Next, take 4 yarns and insert through the holes. Kids will use a little cellophane tape to paste the yarns onto the plastic bag. Next, the paste all the 4 yarns together. They have to give some weight for the parachute so that it can fly down. They can use a recycled paper and crumpled it into a ball and then link to the yarns. Lastly, kids will have to decorate.