Episode guide
Airplane Turbulence: The Sky's Rockabye
Turbulence is the sky's texture: air with bumps in it, like a road with pebbles. This episode explains the jiggle, and why the plane was built expecting it.
The science, gently
- Turbulence is just moving air of different speeds meeting: invisible hills and dips.
- Airplane wings are designed to flex; bending is part of their strength.
- Pilots and planes handle turbulence every day; seatbelts are for riding the bumps comfortably.
Wonder together
- What bumpy roads do you know that lead somewhere good?
- Why does a flexible thing hold up better than a stiff one?
- What would clouds feel like as speed bumps?
Tonight's calm-down
A plane in bumps is a cradle in motion: held on all sides by air. When your bed feels too still, remember that the sky rocks its passengers to sleep at five hundred miles an hour.