Hoop Gliders

What you need:

• Paper

• Ruler

• Scissors

• Tape

• 1 non-bendable straw

What you do:

1. Cut two strips of paper. Make one strip one inch by five inches. Make the second strip one inch by ten inches.

2. Curl each strip of paper into a hoop and tape the ends together.

3. You will now have one big hoop and one small hoop.

4. Tape the small hoop to one end of the straw and tape the big hoop to the other end of the straw.

   Tip: Make sure both hoops line up with one another

5. You now have a Hoop Glider! Hold the Hoop Glider by the middle of the straw, with the small hoop on the left side. Throw it gently and see what happens.

Questions to ask:

1. How far does your glider fly?

2. How could you make it glide farther?

What's the science:

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.

However, wings are not all the same shape and size. For example, think about how different the wing size of a bird versus an airplane is. Different wings can be better for different types of flight. Think about an eagle, which have long, wide wings that help it glide. On the other hand, an airplane has wings with small flaps that move up and down to turn the plane.