Learning Focus: Aerodynamics Funded by Iridescent/Office of Naval Research Developed for iPhone and SMALLab Embodied Learning Platform: Unity Engine Prototype Launch: March 2011

The version of Aero currently available on the iTunes store is an older version. We’re excited to be pushing out a major Aero update this summer, reflecting many of the features and additions seen in our Science of Flight stage show

Aero allows the player to control an albatross in flight and learn, through play, how various aerodynamic principles are applied to achieve flight and movement in flight. The final version of the flight simulation game will portray a singing albatross soaring over the surface of an ocean. Students, as they play, will have the ability to independently change the angle of each wing, the amount of flapping, and range of rotation. Students must navigate over the ocean waves and do specific maneuvers while applying their understanding of lift, drag, trust, wind, and the aerodynamic forces of the atmosphere. Students can accumulate flight rewards and win new songs for the albatross to sing as they learn and demonstrate each concept.

iPhone demo for January 2011

Embodied Demo presented at the Digital Media Learning Conference 2011

GAME LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

o   Wings generate force by deflecting air. The more the deflection the more the force.

o   For a given volume of air deflected, you can increase the force by increasing the angle of deflection.

o   For a given angle of air deflected, you can increase the force by increasing the volume of air deflected by increasing the size of the wing.

o   The angles are represented by the “angle of attack”: the angle between where the wing is pointed and where it is going.

o   The force can be broken into two pieces: lift (perpendicular to the oncoming air), and drag (along the direction of the oncoming air).

o   When you create lift, you can’t avoid creating drag. For a given amount of lift, you can create less drag by deflecting a large volume of air by a small angle, while deflecting a small volume by a large angle creates an increased amount of drag. This is called lift-induced drag.

o    In order to turn, you need a sideways force. The albatross makes a sideways force by banking, thus generating some of it’s lift sideways.