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Well, we sure have seen and heard a lot about how proportionality is used in science.

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Now, bringing it to your computer desktop is NASA's Educational Technology Program Manager,

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Dr. Shelley Kenright.

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NASA researchers are constantly testing new technologies and designs for X-planes,

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using everything from scale models to full-size flying machines that carry people.

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These researchers evaluate their designs by using a basic formula of building, testing,

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and recording their results.

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I'd like to introduce a class of 8th grade students from Talladega County Central High School in Talladega, Alabama.

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They are undertaking their own investigation into scaling and proportionality

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using a unique model design challenge posted at the NASA Connect website.

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Let's see what they're doing.

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Welcome to Talladega County Central High School, Talladega, Alabama.

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We have been asked by NASA to answer these questions.

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Can you take a design that works on one scale and use it for an effective design on another scale?

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Do you have to change the design when you change the scale?

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To find out, we went to Norbert's lab and visited the NASA Langley Research Center Kids' Corner Model Shop website.

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We reviewed the activity intro, collected our materials, and went to work building the eGrid, a paper airplane model.

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We used the Model Shop extra activity to build the eGrid 2X.

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We had to come up with ways to scale up the design plan,

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determine the best materials to use to build the model airplanes, test flight, and record the results.

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We learned that changing the scale of a working design is possible.

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Making the model bigger revealed some design problems which were fun to solve.

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We're even planning to increase the size of the model three times to see what happens.

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We're also able to find information about aerospace grids and to see how NASA uses models in their research.

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Jennifer, as the students from Talladega, Alabama have learned,

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design and testing with scale models brings its own set of unique challenges and questions.

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From Norbert's lab, viewers can try their hand at being a design engineer.

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I encourage our viewers to visit Norbert's lab at the NASA Connect website

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and to test their skills at building the eGrid 2X and other paper airplane models

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that are available from a specially created online aeronautics model shop.