Later this month I’ll be taking my students to the da Vinci Experience, a traveling exhibition of many working models of Leonardo da Vinci’s designs. 

It’s being presented at the Aerospace Museum of California here in Sacramento, which also has an impressive collection of airplanes.

One of the activities we’ll be doing in anticipation of our visit will be having a paper airplane-making and flying contest.  I have links to many sites for paper airplane design, and even one where you can simulate the flying of different types.  You can find them on my regular Science page (that’s different from the Science page I have specifically for English Language Learner students) under the “Flight” section.

Paper airplane lessons create many opportunities for English Language Learners, including learning the scientific method through making lab reports and following or writing directions on how they constructed their plane.  Plus, it’s fun!