Student-designed gliders take flight

CEDAR RAPIDS - Small groups of fifth- to ninth-graders huddled Friday afternoon on Jefferson High School's football field for the last moments of flight camp.

Since Monday, the students had been learning principles of aerodynamics. Now it was time to fly the three-dimensional-printed planes they had designed and built themselves.

Ian O'Brien, 11, and his team took one last look at their creation. The vertical stabilizer seemed secure. The fuselage was sturdy. The wings, decorated with marker doodles, looked ready.

'I have a fear it'll all explode,” Ian said.

Meant to peak students' interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, the five-day DAVinCI camp - Design of Aerospace Vehicles for in Class Integration - taught engineering concepts through activities and games. Starting with simple paper planes and lessons on the vocabulary of flight, the students eventually graduated to the DAVinCI software, which they used to choose and design the pieces needed to make a plane that would fly.

Then, they exported those designs to a 3D printer and put the pieces together.

'We're trying to give more kids STEM experience,” said Iowa State University Professor Christa Jackson, who developed the curriculum for the camp. 'These hands-on learning experiences are really important to these kids choosing to go into STEM careers.”

The camp, which took place over the school's spring break, was the first DAVinCI Flight Camp directed at middle school-aged students.

'We're trying to get them comfortable thinking of themselves as engineers,” said Chris Whitmeir, who developed the software with Parametric Studio in Ames. 'It's not some far-off thing. It's something they can do now.”

On the field, each team readied to fly. Strong gusts blew across the field. After a dramatic countdown, most of the gliders were whipped to the ground.

The students - as well as parents, grandparents and siblings watching - laughed.

Jackson suggested throwing the gliders in a different direction. One of Ian's teammates, Precious Kimbrough, 13, picked up their glider. She turned around to catch the wind.

'Precious, chuck it with all your might!” yelled Dakota Elmore, 11.

'Woah!” she said, as the wings picked up the gusts. 'I feel it now! Can I throw it?”

With the OK from Jackson, she threw the plane forward and upward. For the first time, it stayed airborne.

'That actually flew!” she said, smiling at her teammates. 'It actually flew.”