Science Minute Script:

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How Does a Bird Fly? It's not magic...it's not strings...it's WINGS!

This Science Minute was researched and written by Connor S., of Ithaca, NY.

There are two key reasons that birds can fly: lift and air pressure. When a bird flaps its wings, air is pushed downwards. This produces an opposite force known as lift, which lifts the bird into the air. Birds' wings are curved on the top and flat on the bottom. This shape causes air to move more quickly over the top of the wing, increasing the air pressure on the bottom of the wing and helping to lift the bird.

Take off and landing are the most difficult parts of flying. For take off, a bird must flap its wings fast enough to lift its body. To land, a bird has to slow down so that it doesn't crash into the ground. It flaps its wings more slowly and lets gravity help pull it down. Then, it twists its wings to increase their surface area and spreads out its tail feathers to act as a brake.

Next time you see a bird, watch how it uses lift and air pressure to take off, fly, and land!