Overview

6th Grade Science

Flight and Space

9. Flight

9.1 Forces of Flight, Lift, drag, thrust, gravity

Discover the Four Forces That Make Flight Possible

You will explore lift, drag, thrust, and gravity the four forces that control how every aircraft moves through the air.

What You'll Learn

You learn how four forces control every aircraft in flight.

You discover how airfoil wings use pressure differences to create lift.

You understand balanced forces keep aircraft at constant speed and altitude.

You explore how thrust overcomes drag to accelerate an aircraft forward.

What You'll Practice

You will identify which force acts in each flight direction.

You will analyze how balanced and unbalanced forces change aircraft motion.

You will apply Bernoulli's Principle to explain how wings generate lift.

Why This Matters

Understanding the four forces of flight gives you the scientific foundation to explain how aircraft, birds, and gliders move through the air and connects directly to real-world engineering and physics.

This Unit Includes

1 Video lesson

Practice exercises

Learning resources

Skills

Lift

Drag

Thrust

Gravity

Aerodynamics

RI Curriculum Aligned