Paper airplanes take off in Chesterfield for National Engineers Week

CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — Some paper airplanes are flying high this week in Chesterfield, while others are... stationery.

The planes, made by elementary students, are part of a STEAM challenge for this year's National Engineers Week. Created by engineering students at Lloyd C. Bird High School, the challenge encourages the young engineers in Chesterfield County to get creative and experiment with paper airplanes during this simple yet effective lesson.

Fifth-graders at Crestwood Elementary School were among the competitors in the countywide contest on Thursday, Feb. 26. Each year, students get to experience a different part of the engineering process, said STEAM teacher Heather Bumgarner.

(Paul Nevadomski/8News)

(Paul Nevadomski/8News)

(Paul Nevadomski/8News)

(Paul Nevadomski/8News)

(Paul Nevadomski/8News)

(Paul Nevadomski/8News)

“Their challenge today was to create the dart airplane, and then to use paper clips to figure out the center of gravity with the airplane so that it would go the furthest, as well as continue on a straight flight path," Bumgarner said.

The challenge also provided STEAM teachers and students with instructions and supplies. From Monday, Feb. 23, through Friday, Feb. 27, elementary students in Chesterfield can participate in the challenge, learn from the experience and connect it to real-life examples.

“With this airplane project today, we were focusing on that testing and improving and that there's no right answer," Bumgarner said. "Anything they do that makes it work is an OK answer, and that allows them to fail, but then to also not fail at the same time."