Students
play a game to learn about the four forces of flight: lift, drag,
thrust, and weight. Before playing the game, students conduct a
probability experiment with spinners and record their results in tally
tables and bar graphs. They then use their findings to select spinners
with the greatest probability of helping them win the game. In a
portion of the game, students use ordered pairs to plot points on the
coordinate plane to show their flight path.
This lesson was adapted from Travel in the Solar System in Mission Mathematics II: Grades 3‑5, a NASA/NCTM project, NCTM
1997.