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iFly SF Bay

iFly SF Bay’s Educational Science Program covers physics topics like gravitational and drag forces, terminal velocity, independence of horizontal and vertical motion, mass flow rate, Bernoulli’s Principle, work and energy, and stability. We apply these topics directly to the operation of our $8.5 million vertical wind tunnel and to the emerging sport of indoor skydiving.

IflySF

Your students will have the opportunity to tour the facility in order to get an up close look at its engineering and the science at work in its operation, to conduct various experiments in the flight chamber, and to try body flight out for themselves!  Soon to come:  Worksheets and activities to be used in the classroom before and after your trip to iFly!

Please visit our educational program webpage at http://iflysfbay.com/?page=1033 for more information.

To book a group for the program or to ask any questions, please contact me at anytime:
Cailin Creighton
Program Director
cailin@iflysfbay.com
510-709-7533 (mobile)

5 Comments

  1. Brenda Stutzman Brenda Stutzman

    Our class came to iFly expecting to have fun in the wind tunnel. Instead we had an equally great time learning about the structure of the building and the principles of physics that are involved in skydiving. Caitlin and her crew were informative, energetic and helpful. A super day for our class!

  2. Patrick Patrick

    We were on the lookout for a good field trip for our 8th graders and decided to try iFly. We had a blast in the wind tunnel, of course! We had teachers and students clamoring for an extra minute, convincing ourselves that we, too, will be able to do the head spins and tricks that the experts at iFly were doing, if only we were given that extra 60 seconds. The lecture on force, motion and terminal velocity was brought to life in the wind tunnel,stopping the age-old student response of “How will this apply in real life?”

    I would like to think that the students were a wee bit impressed by seeing their teachers in the wind tunnel….turns out that teachers are human, too, and can be a lot of fun! This is a good Science lesson and bonding experience.

    Cailin was very energetic, accommodating, and good-natured. She answered all my emails regarding the set up of the trip, made us feel very welcome from start to finish, and led a good educational program.

    Thank you Cailin and the iFly staff!

  3. bill taylor bill taylor

    We had a great experience for 70 of our kids had at iFly this week. The Facility was run smoothly and professionally with no injuries or scares, and the kids loved it!

    Calin Creighton at iFly (cailin@iflysfbay. com) helped arrange the visit in advance and during the days we visited. She was thorough and patient in dealing with our many questions before the visit and also gave all our kids an excellent physics lecture and demo about flight characteristics.

    It really was an educational learning experience for the kids and we expect to come back next year.

    If you have any questions or want some of the materials I developed to use as templates for your own visit just let me know. I have a letter to parents, a flyer to post at school, a proposal with all the relevant details for the admins, a spreadsheet to work out the cost, etc.

    I rented a bus and charged the kids each $35. Total cost around $2500 including the bus. It was a lot of work to arrange it but once the day(s) came they were easy days for me.
    You’ve heard of hands-on science — this is full-body physics!

    Bill Taylor
    Physics, AP Physics, Rocketry Club
    Westmont School
    Campbell, CA

  4. Anna Woodbury Anna Woodbury

    I brought six high school students to iFly last week for the educational program. The demonstration, lecture, tour, and windtunnel experience all went together so well; my students were thrilled at the experience. One student actually stated that just flying in the tunnel would not have been enough, that it was so much more worthwhile with the other parts of the program. If we can work it out, we’d love iFly to become a new field trip tradition for our Physics program.

    As everyone else stated, Cailin’s help in setting up our visit, running our program, and helping out with details afterwards was fabulous.

    Anna Woodbury
    CA School for the Deaf, Fremont

  5. Deanne Flatley Deanne Flatley

    I recently took a group of about 25 homeschoolers to iFLY. The age range was 5 to 11 years of age.
    It was very fun, and the beginning experiments with objects in the wind tunnel really brought home the physics concepts when Cailin discussed them later in our tutorial.
    It is a very exciting field trip. Also, the discussions about how they had previously designed the windtunnel, the inherent flaws in the design and how they redesigned it, was very interesting to my group.
    The instructors are very groovy and inspirational and very supportive. It is also a valuable personal growth experience just getting in the tunnel and sensing your body differently… trying to find your balance in this new environment, learning to work with it and work within it… and this could also be used as a teaching point.

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