Making a glider
In this activity, students handcraft a glider from balsa wood. In the process, they learn about aerofoil wing shape, glider parts and terminology. They experiment with flight using variables of wind and nose weight.
Model glider
A model glider made from balsa wood.
By the end of this activity, students should be able to:
understand what an aerofoil is
use and understand terminology such as wing, tailplane, fuselage, aerofoil, fin
have some understanding of the parts of a plane and how they are needed for flight
have some understanding of the effects of weight and angle of attack on flight.
Download the Word file (see link below) for:
introduction/background notes
what you need
what to do.
Download the Glider template (see link below).
Related content
Find out more about the Principles of flight. There is a lot to know about wings and flight! These articles provide more information: Wings and lift, Wing loading and Wing aspect ratio.
Activity ideas
These hands-on activities are an ideal way to further investigate flight principles:
