Imagine you’re flying high in the sky, but suddenly, you’re free-falling from six miles up with no parachute or wingsuit. Sounds terrifying, right? But don’t worry, there might be a way to survive this extreme situation!
When you start falling, you might pass out because there’s not much oxygen at that height. While you’re unconscious, Earth’s gravity pulls you down, making you fall faster. However, air resistance pushes against you, slowing you down. Eventually, these forces balance out, and you reach what’s called “terminal velocity,” falling at a constant speed of about 120 miles per hour.
If you fall from a skyscraper, you’d hit the ground in just 12 seconds. But from a plane, you have about three minutes to prepare, increasing your chances of survival. Surprisingly, falling from a plane might be safer than from a tall building!
There are real-life stories of people surviving falls from planes. For example, in 1972, a flight attendant named Vesna Vulović survived a fall from 33,000 feet after her plane exploded. She was wedged between her seat and a food trolley, landing on a snowy mountain slope. Another story is about Alan Magee, who survived a 20,000-foot fall by crashing through a glass roof.
If you find yourself in a free fall, stay calm. Try to steer yourself toward a safer landing spot. Avoid water, as hitting it at high speed feels like hitting concrete. Instead, aim for something soft like a snowbank, haystack, or marshland. If you see a town below, look for a flat surface like a truck or a glass roof.
To slow down, spread your arms and legs like a flying squirrel. This increases air resistance, helping you steer. To move right, lower your right shoulder; to go left, lower your left shoulder. To move forward, straighten your arms and legs; to move backward, bend your knees and stretch your arms forward.
Avoid landing on your head to prevent serious injuries. If you can’t control your fall, try to land on your face instead of the top or back of your skull. Just before landing, decide whether to keep your arms and legs spread out or pull them together tightly.
In 1971, 17-year-old Juliane Koepcke survived a plane crash over the Amazon rainforest. After falling over 10,000 feet, she walked for 11 days through the jungle, using skills her scientist parents taught her. She followed a river downstream, which eventually led her to safety.
These stories show that with some knowledge and a bit of luck, survival is possible even in the most extreme situations. Hopefully, you’ll never need these tips, but it’s always good to be prepared!
Conduct a simple experiment to understand terminal velocity. Drop different objects like a feather, a coin, and a piece of paper from the same height and observe how air resistance affects their fall. Discuss why some objects reach terminal velocity faster than others.
Work in groups to create a short skit based on one of the survival stories mentioned in the article. Act out the events leading up to the fall and the survival techniques used. Share your skit with the class and discuss what you learned about survival strategies.
Imagine you are an engineer tasked with designing a device to help someone survive a free fall. Draw your design and explain how it would work to slow down a fall and increase the chances of survival. Present your design to the class.
Use an online simulation tool to model a free fall from different heights. Adjust variables like air resistance and body position to see how they affect the fall. Record your observations and discuss how these factors influence survival chances.
Learn about basic survival skills that could be useful in a jungle environment, like finding water, building a shelter, and identifying edible plants. Create a survival guide poster with tips and illustrations, inspired by Juliane Koepcke’s story.
Free Fall – The motion of an object when it is falling solely under the influence of gravity, with no other forces acting on it. – Example sentence: During free fall, a skydiver accelerates towards the ground until air resistance becomes significant.
Gravity – The force that attracts two bodies towards each other, typically noticeable as the force that makes things fall to the ground. – Example sentence: Gravity is the reason why planets orbit the sun and why we stay grounded on Earth.
Air Resistance – The force that opposes the motion of an object through the air, often referred to as drag. – Example sentence: As a parachute opens, air resistance increases, slowing down the skydiver’s descent.
Terminal Velocity – The constant speed that a freely falling object eventually reaches when the resistance of the medium prevents further acceleration. – Example sentence: A skydiver reaches terminal velocity when the force of gravity is balanced by air resistance.
Survival – The act of staying alive, especially in challenging conditions or situations. – Example sentence: Understanding the principles of physics can be crucial for survival in extreme environments.
Landing – The act of coming down to the ground or another surface after being in the air. – Example sentence: The pilot ensured a smooth landing by carefully managing the plane’s speed and angle.
Oxygen – A gas that is essential for most forms of life on Earth, used by the body to produce energy. – Example sentence: At high altitudes, the air is thinner, and there is less oxygen available for breathing.
Forces – Influences that can change the motion of an object, such as gravity, friction, and applied force. – Example sentence: In physics, we study how different forces affect the movement of objects.
Calm – A state of tranquility or stillness, often important for clear thinking and decision-making. – Example sentence: Staying calm during an experiment helps ensure accurate observations and results.
Safety – The condition of being protected from danger, risk, or injury. – Example sentence: Wearing safety goggles in the lab is essential to protect your eyes from harmful substances.
