Hoop Gliders

Cassandra & Jerica
​Hoop Glider Champions

Alasia & Gretal
​Hoop Glider Champions

August 11, 2021 - Our class participated in the "Hoop Glider Challenge" and learned about the forces of flight. If you throw a plain straw, it doesn’t go very far. But when you add paper hoops, the straw glides through the air.  That’s because the hoops act like wings. In the hoop glider activity, each group's main goal is to build a glider that will fly as far as possible.
​After testing out the gliders, we tried changing the hoops. We made them bigger, smaller, added more hoops, added wings, turned them up side down, and tested them again and again to see how far the glider can go after modifications.
Much like a paper airplane, the hoop glider uses curved surfaces on top of the glider to generate LIFT. An aerodynamic shape reduces DRAG. GRAVITY pulls the glider toward the ground, and the arm throw provides THRUST!
     After 16 flyers glided across the cafeteria, the team of Cassandra/Jerica tied with Alasia/Gretal with the farthest flying glider at a class record of 32' 7"! Congratulations!
Photographer: Raul