Cinema Science
A FEEL-GOOD UNDERDOG STORY SET IN THE WORLD OF COMPETITIVE PAPER PLANE FLYING, ROBERT CONNOLLY’S 2014 FILM BEGINS IN THE PLACE WHERE ITS PREMISE HAS THE MOST USEFUL REAL-WORLD APPLICATION: THE CLASSROOM. AS DAVE CREWE OUTLINES, THE FILM PROVIDES PLENTIFUL OPPORTUNITIES FOR LEARNING ABOUT THE BASICS OF AERODYNAMICS, AS WELL AS THE VALUE OF AN EDUCATIONAL MINDSET IN WHICH FAILURE AND SETBACKS ARE EMBRACED.
Remember Paper Planes (Robert Connolly, 2014)? Probably not, I suspect; the film is the kind of crowd-pleasing pablum made to be forgotten. An archetypal underdog sports film – where the ‘sport’ in question is the construction of paper planes – it leans heavily on clichés and the charm of its young star, Ed Oxenbould, to carry its paper-thin narrative.
But while I can’t really recommend Paper Planes as a film critic, as a Maths/Science teacher I’m somewhat more enthusiastic! Connolly’s film is unabashedly targeted towards younger viewers, and in a primary or junior secondary context, that target audience can use the text as a springboard to explore aerodynamics, design and the intricacies of the scientific process.
Whereas most preceding editions of Cinema Science have centred on science at the secondary end of the spectrum, is very much suited for a younger audience. As such, the suggestions that follow are predominantly intended for primary teachers, but many
