Spider Glider

Kindergarten and 1st grade students at Avocado Elementary School, in Homestead, Florida made Spider Gliders as part of their inquiry unit on Spiders. The students have lots of questions about spiders. "During a spiders life time how much dragline can it make?" "Do the spider's spinnerets ever get clogged?" "And if so how does the spider gets them unclogged?" "We were able to incorporate many of the Thinking Fountain's ideas. . . As a spin-off, my class did a mini unit with "Anansi The Spider". We made "Spider Gliders". The kids really got a kick out of this." -Carol Delancy, Avocado Elementary School Read more of the message from Carol.

Students testing out their spider gliders.

Make a spider glider Find a bug or a picture of one, then make a quick sketch. Use your sketch and turn your bug into a glider.	Materials: Crayons or markers Masking Tape Scissors Straw (1) String or fishing line Tag board or construction paper Pencil Pipe cleaners (2)
Fold paper in half Draw half of each segment Unfold Decorate to look like your bug Cut piece of straw to fit in the abdomen area Tape straw to the back Bend pipe cleaner for legs
Tape legs to straw Cut leftover straw in half Cut 5m of string Tie small straw pieces to ends of string Pull the string through the straw on glider Hang it from the ceiling or in a doorway You're ready to test it out! Pull the two lines apart

Try making a glider that will make a noise. How would your glider move if you used different kinds of string? Challenge a friend to a spider glider race.

Anansi the Spider
Make a rocket that travels on a string
Specifically about spiders

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