STIIX Glider Plane Project: Aerodynamics in Action
In the STIIX Glider Plane Project, students become aerospace engineers in STIIX-Ville, tasked with building high-performance gliders for the city’s new airport, STX. Guided by principles of lift, drag, weight, and balance, learners explore how real-world forces influence flight as they design, build, and iterate their own glider models.
The unit includes a full engineering design cycle: watching five instructional videos (Intro, Academic Concepts, “How-To,” Testing & Evaluation, Bonus), sketching designs, building prototypes, testing performance, and refining. Students evaluate how wing shape, weight distribution, and glider structure affect stability, distance, and control. Through test flights and data collection, they learn that small design changes can produce big differences in glide behavior.
Teachers receive structured support: slide decks, build logs, data-tracking sheets, and educational guides aligned to NGSS practices (such as forces and energy). The project stretches over ~2-4 hours of classroom time, making it ideal for a STEM block, makerspace session, or design challenge week.
Bring structure and excitement to hands-on learning with STIIX-Ville — your digital hub for project guides, assessments, and student progress tracking.
What’s Included in the Box:
- Modular structural components (sticks, connectors) for building glider frame
- Wing pieces / templated wing designs
- Fuselage parts
- Weight-adjustable mass pieces
- Launch platform or instructions for hand-launching
- Build-log and design iteration worksheets
- Testing and evaluation guides for tracking flight performance
- Reflection & team presentation templates
- Teacher slide deck & lesson plan
- Instructional videos (5 total: Intro, Academic, How-To, Testing, Industry)
