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At a Glance: Students construct a five-foot hot-air balloon envelope from lightweight colored paper, then use the Pitsco Hot-Air Balloon Launcher to send it soaring gracefully in the sky.

Concepts: Students will learn how gases behave when heated and discover the principles of buoyancy and displacement.
 
Details: Students glue together the edges of tissue paper to form three 20" by 60" panels. The panels are stacked and folded twice lengthwise. A gore panel pattern is placed on the folded tissue paper, secured with paper clips, and cut out.

The panels are unfolded and smoothed. While remaining stacked, the edges of the panels are glued together one by one. The edge of one gore is folded over and glued to the edges of the next until all 12 edges are attached to form the envelope of the balloon.

A circle approximately 4" in diameter is cut from scrap pieces of tissue paper and glued to one end of the envelope. Two pipe cleaners are twisted together to form a circle. The open end of the balloon is folded over the pipe cleaner circle and glued to form the balloon's hoop.

Indoor launches and leak checking can be accomplished by holding the mouth of the balloon over a hot air source, such as Pitsco’s Indoor Balloon Launcher, for several minutes to displace ambient air with warm air. Look for splits in the seams of the balloon where hot air may be escaping. Repair any leaks before trying indoor or outdoor launches. When launching the balloon indoors, release the balloon when it is completely inflated with hot air. When it is released it will remain suspended in the air, traveling in the direction of the room's air movement. The balloon will remain suspended until the air inside cools and the balloon is no longer light enough to float on the cooler air.

Balloons can be launched outside with the included Pitsco Outdoor Launcher that uses standard propane canisters to quickly and safely fill tissue-paper balloons with hot air. Cool, calm mornings are the best time for launching, as the temperature differential between the hot air inside the balloon and the cool air in the atmosphere will be the greatest.