GLIDERS GALORE! thanks to ................................. A World In Motion

I spent two hours today visiting grade 5 science classes taught by Ms. Patrice Healy at the Bernazzani School in Quincy.  The students have been learning about aerodynamics, engineering design, and the scientific method through gliders.  One year ago I won a classroom glider kit at a glider workshop when the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) had its annual convention in Boston.  I donated it since I don't have a class of my own!

Each class was divided into five or six teams, with three to five people per team.  Since the students have been working on these for a few days, one person from each team came up front to collect the group's glider (a work in progress) and other supplies, including a clipboard with a special form for recording their observations, masking tape, and a meterstick (which I initially thought was a yardstick!).

First, they resumed working on the glider, discussing it with each other, with comments and questions for the teacher, too.  When all were ready, we went out to the schoolyard to try them out.  Well, today happened to be kind of windy -- and not always coming from the same direction.  So we learned to be aware of where the wind was coming from and to pitch the glider aloft with the wind at your back -- using the force of the wind to help you, rather than having the glider turn around and head back to you.  One boy knew enough to wet his finger and hold it up in the air, the better to feel the wind!

The frames were made of a lightweight wood, maybe balsa.  Some teams needed to continue making design changes to see what would work better, such as changing the amount of Silly Putty on the glider's nose.  Some made changes using scissors to make some subtle snips here and there or for more drastic adjustments to its Styrofoam body  Launching technique was important to the overall success, too.

They had also tried out the gliders in the gymnasium for a while, one class last week, the other class today, this being a control situation without the wind to contend with.  It was fun to watch the gliders that had a successful flight.  Sometimes the flight of a glider reminded me of the flight of a bird staying aloft on a current of wind.

The students had some questions for me, too, including how did I win the kit, and different kids came up to me and thanked me for donating it.  Thank you to A World In Motion for the gift, to Mr. Peter Dionne, principal of Bernazzani School, and to Patrice Healy for this welcome chance to get back into the classroom and see some nice science learning going on.