Day Ninety: Paper Wings

When I'm not out taking pictures, I actually do have a job that keeps me rather busy. I am a high school math teacher, and my first class of the day starts at 7 a.m., an hour before the "official" school day begins.

Waking up early is sometimes a struggle, for me and for the students. And studying statistics first thing in the morning, every morning, for an entire year can be a long haul without a few activities here and there to keep things interesting.

Fortunately, the AP Statistics curriculum lends itself well to experiments and activities - I especially enjoy finding creative ways to collect data. Today was paper airplane flying day.

The test was to see which model plane flew farther: the Stabinaw Flyer (as it came to be known in our class, so named after "the kid in 5th grade who sat next to me and always got in trouble for making paper airplanes like these," as one girl in class said) versus the Dart.

The Dart proved superior in distance performance (as the name alone might suggest) topping lengths traveled of 55 feet. The Stabinaw Flyer seemed, on average, more aloof - prefering spiral paths and scenic routes over the intended straight-line navigation.

One Flyer, seen above, did soar high into the rafters and get some good distance.

In the end, though, both Darts and Flyers ended up at the same finish line: the recycle bin.