Lesson Plan
Science and Mathematics Initiative for Learning Enhancement (SMILE)

Smile: Lab Activity: Aviation

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
This site from the Illinois Institute of Technology provides a student lab activity in which the flight of a paper airplane is investigated and studied. Designed for primary grades, but easily adaptable for junior high young scholars.
Activity
Michigan Reach Out

Nasa Trc: Flying Wing

For Teachers 9th - 10th
In this lesson plan students can make a flying wing and trouble-shoot until the wing glides smoothly.
Lesson Plan
PBS

Pbs Teachers: Scientific American: Flying Free: Winging It

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Explore flight and the science behind lift and wing shape by creating two paper airplanes - a monoplane glider and a ring-wing glider.
Website
Other

Charles lindbergh.com: Charles Lindbergh: An American Aviator

For Students 9th - 10th
Everything that could possibly be known about Lindbergh is at this site: The flight, Anne Morrow Lindbergh, the kidnapping, and more.
Interactive
Smithsonian Institution

National Air and Space Museum: Wright Brothers: Interactive Experiments

For Students 9th - 10th
Three interactives in an online exhibition about the Wright Brothers. The first is an engineering activity on the forces of flight, and is accompanied by a lesson plan for Grades 6-8. The second is a gallery of original artifacts related...
Activity
Other

Spirit of St. Louis

For Students 9th - 10th
Site offers "general dimensions, specifications, weight characteristics, and man hours required to build the aircraft." Also gives individual thumbnail images "of the technical preparation of the airplane."
Website
PBS

Pbs: American Experience: Amelia Earhart

For Students 9th - 10th
This documentary film traces the life of aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart, the first woman to attempt to fly solo across the Atlantic. A preview and other information about the film project are available here.
Interactive
Starfall

Starfall: My First Flight

For Students K - 1st
This is a story of a young girl who rides in an airplane for the first time. Children can read independently or click on the ear to have sentences read to them.
Handout
Lone Star Junction

Lone Star Junction: First Flight in Texas

For Students 4th - 8th
Describes the earliest efforts of Texans to fly airplanes.
Website
Other

U.s. Centennial of Flight Commission: The u.s. Aircraft Industry During Wwi

For Students 9th - 10th
A good essay on the development of the airline industry in the United States as a result of World War I. Many companies worked on airplane design, but few survived after the war.
Handout
Other

U.s. Centennial of Flight Commission: Balloons in the American Civil War

For Students 9th - 10th
What role did hot air balloons play in the Civil War? This comprehensive article answers that question and gives specific examples of their use by both the Union and Confederate troops.
Website
Other

Wwi Aviation: An Illustrated History of World War One: The Eastern Front

For Students 9th - 10th
Information on the aerial aspect of the war on the Eastern Front during WWI. Includes links to lists of each country's flying 'aces.'
Handout
Library of Congress

Loc: Wilbur and Orville Wright Papers

For Students 9th - 10th
Over 49,000 digitized primary documents having to do with the Wright brothers and their work with flight. A timeline of the brothers' work, a family tree, and other special presentations are offered.
Website
Other

Ellen's Place: Amelia Earhart 1897 1937

For Students 9th - 10th
This informative resource is a biography of Amelia Earhart and her accomplishments, focusing on the early years, her celebrity status, and her last flight.
Article
Famous Scientists

Famous Scientists: Alberto Santos Dumont

For Students 9th - 10th
Read about Brazilian aviation pioneer, Alberto Santos-Dumont, who designed, built, and flew hot air balloons, and was famous for his flight that rounded the Eiffel Tower.
Website
Library of Congress

Loc: Full of Hot Air

For Students 9th - 10th
Did you know that the hot-air balloon is the oldest form of successful human flight? Briefly described is the history and construction of hot-air balloons. Follow the link to "images of hot-air balloons and balloon racing" to view...
Interactive
Vocabulary University

My vocabulary.com: Wright Brothers

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
This has a variety of vocabulary puzzles and activities using 31 vocabulary words pertaining to the Wright Brothers. It also offers an extensive vocabulary word list for aviation and airplanes.
Lesson Plan
Smithsonian Institution

Smithsonian Learning Lab: Stories of the Wrights' Flights

For Teachers 9th - 10th
This lesson plan has students read primary materials from the Smithsonian collection written by the Wright brothers, and compare and contrast them to secondary sources, such as newspaper stories from the next day. There is background...
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Balsa Glider Competition

For Teachers 5th - 7th
The purpose of this activity is to bring together the students' knowledge of engineering and airplanes and the creation of a glider model to determine how each modification affects the flight. The students will use a design procedure...
Lesson Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: May the Force Be With You: Weight

For Teachers 5th - 7th
The purpose of this lesson is to help students understand the relationship between the mass and the weight of an object. Students will study the properties of common materials and why airplanes use specific materials.
Lesson Plan
Alabama Learning Exchange

Alex: Let's Calculate Flight!

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Young scholars will use stop watches to help understand elapsed time when they fly paper airplanes through the air. Students will then move on to using clocks. Young scholars will work out elapsed time word problems using made up flight...
Handout
US Department of Labor

Bureau of Labor Statistics: Aircraft Pilots and Flight Engineers

For Students 9th - 10th
This resource provides a general overview on the job of a pilot. It includes the Nature of the work, Working conditions, Employment, Training, job outlook, earnings, related occupations, and additional sources of informations.
Website
Smithsonian Institution

National Air and Space Museum: Pioneers of Flight: Amelia Earhart

For Students 9th - 10th
Illustrated essay on the pioneering step taken by Amelia Earhart when she became, in 1932, the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.
PPT
PBS

Bombers of World War Ii: Last Flight of Bomber 31

For Students 9th - 10th
Website that chronicles the story of the search for remains of Bomber 31 that went down in Kamchatka during World War II. There is also a slide show and descriptions of several World War II bombers.

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