Flying Through History: An Inquiry into Aviation

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Student questions are at the heart of this unit. Students inquire about various events and people as we learn about the history of flight. The introductory lessons provided here will serve as your springboard to inquiry.

OBJECTIVE

Students will:

1. Generate a list of questions about aviators and aviation to guide our unit
2. Identify details in photographs of aviators and airplanes
3. Utilize the internet to locate things that fly
4. Compare and contrast two things that fly
5. Identify character traits that facilitate fulfilling personal goals
6. Identify areas of nature that may have influenced humans quest for flight
7. Use technology to research the life of an aviator
8. Create a biography poster of amn aviator
9. Explain the iportant role perseverance played in an aviators’ quest for flight
10. Identify major aviation events on a timeline
11. Provide rationale for placing events on class timeline
12. Identify the major parts of an airplane

LESSONS FOR THIS UNIT
Lesson 1: Beginning with Inquiry
Lesson 2: Things That Fly

CULMINATING ACTIVITY

Have a class aviation show. Students can create a paper airplane at home and fly them at the show. Students should be prepared to take on the role of an aviator as they share with the audience the character traits they displayed (objective #5) when creating a plane that flew. Various categories of recognition could include: amount of time spent in the air, length of flight, etc. Invite families to attend the show.

SUPPORTING BOOKS

Books for Investigating Aviation

Creating a PowerPoint Presentation!
Students perform Internet and print research to compile a report that they will present using PowerPointT multimedia presentation software.

Biographies: Beyond Book Reports
Expose your students to biographies of inspiring historical figures who have triumphed against difficult odds. Allow them to participate in this...

Celebrating 100 Years of Flight
Students explore the history, science and adventure of humankind's journey through the air. They build their own virtual planes, write newspaper...

ARTICLE	Ben Franklin Offers an interactive reproducible that asks questions and provides informational links about founding father Benjamin Franklin and his accomplishments as scientific genius as well as a statesman.
LESSON PLAN	Celebrating 100 Years of Flight for Grades 6-8 Presents a lesson on the influence of the Wright Brothers, Amelia Earhart, and the space shuttle astronauts on history and culture.
ONLINE ACTIVITY	100 Years of Flight On December 17, 1903, Wilbur and Orville Wright made the world's first sustained, powered-aircraft flight. But it wasnt the first time humans...