Parachute

High school (ages 12+)
Transportation

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/parachute

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the conceptual originator?Leonardo da Vinci (circa 1485)
2. What is the first documented public jump?Louis-Sébastien Lenormand (1783)
3. What is a parachute and how does it work?A parachute is a big, flat fabric that opens up to create a large surface area. It pushes against the air, creating drag that slows a falling person or object. The drag force fights gravity, making the descent gentle.
4. Who first jumped with a parachute and when?Louis‑Sébastien Lenormand was the first person to jump with a parachute in 1783. He leapt from a tower in Montpellier and showed that a parachute could slow a fall.

Aerodynamic Drag: The resistive force exerted by a fluid (like air) on an object moving through it.
Terminal Velocity: The constant speed that a freely falling object eventually reaches when the resistance of the medium through which it is falling prevents further acceleration.
Drag Coefficient: A dimensionless quantity used to quantify the drag or resistance of an object in a fluid environment.
Ram-air Canopy: A type of parachute wing that inflates with air to maintain its shape and generate lift and drag.