| Let
Your Child Fly With Seeds Software’s
Introduction to Airplane Design
By Neil Schuldiner
 Planning
on purchasing gliders to teach your children or students the basics
of aerospace principles? Instead, consider Seeds Software’s Introduction
to Airplane Design, an interactive educational software “toy”
that will enable your child to design and construct his or her
own gliders while learning the theoretical concepts of flight.
Designed for grades seven through twelve, and compatible with
both Windows and Macintosh based computers (thanks to its hybrid
CD), Introduction to Airplane Design consists of two components
– tutorials and the Real Glider sections.
The tutorial component includes detailed simulations, illustrations
and diagrams that educate users on concepts from Newton’s laws
of motion to simulations exemplifying gravity, lift, thrust and
drag. Such simulations oftentimes include interactive components
which allow users to input variables relating to wing design,
pitch, angle of attack, etc. — and see the real-time effects of
such alterations. In one such tutorial, students enter data relating
to the concept of “lift,” and interactively alter an animated
simulation of airflow over an airfoil.
The Glider section, Introduction to Airplane Design’s most
intriguing component, lets students and children apply the concepts
of aerodynamics that they learned in the tutorial component—in
the design of an actual flyable glider. Based on such variables
as wing and fuselage dimensions and horizontal and vertical stabilizers
entered by the user, the program constructs an image of a model
craft. Introduction to Airplane Design then calculates
the theoretical likelihood of the aircraft’s ability to soar.
If the program determines your plane should be grounded, the program
cites your errors (perhaps your wing design or propulsion variables
were off) and offers recommendations to alleviate your design
flaws. If the user’s design can “take off,” it prints out detailed
instructions and diagrams to assemble your model aircraft.
While Introduction to Airplane Design could benefit from
improved graphics and more sophisticated animations, it’s difficult
not to recommend the program. With lesson plans, quizzes and answer
sheets for teachers, and concise user instructions for parents,
Seeds Software has created a product both teachers, parents and
children are sure to take to the skies!#
Introduction
to Airplane Design by Seeds Software (email: Science@Seeds2Learn.com;
Web: www.Seeds2Learn.com; 206-782-0914). Windows System Requirements:
Windows 95/98/NT/2000/XP, 20 to 25 MB of RAM, 50 Mhz processor;
Macintosh System Requiremnts: Mac Power PC, Mac OS 7.3 to OSX,
15 MB of avaiable RAM.
Education
Update, Inc., P.O. Box 20005, New York, NY 10001.
Tel: (212) 481-5519. Fax: (212) 481-3919.Email: ednews1@aol.com.
All material is copyrighted and may not be printed without express
consent of the publisher. © 2002.
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