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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Early Attempts at Flight

For Teachers 4th - 7th
Students investigate the early history of flight. In this aviation history instructional activity, students are split into six groups to research the development of the ornithopter, hot air balloon and the glider. Each group records...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Flight Dreams - Flight Factors

For Teachers Pre-K - 6th
Students investigate the physics of flight by experimenting in class.  In this history of flight instructional activity, students define terms such as gravity, lift, and drag in order to better understand how a plane is able to stay in...
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Website
Library of Congress

Loc: The Dream of Flight

For Students 9th - 10th
The Library of Congress has opened its vast resources and created an exhibition commemorating the centennial of flight. The library uses "some of its rarest and most significant materials," to present this aviation history exhibit. Be...
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Website
Library of Congress

Loc: The Dream of Flight

For Students 9th - 10th
The Library of Congress has opened its vast resources and created an exhibition commemorating the centennial of flight. The Library uses "Some of its rarest and most significant materials," to present this beautiful website. Be sure to...
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Primary
Purdue University

George Palmer Putnam Collection of Amelia Earhart Papers

For Students 9th - 10th
The world's largest collection of Amelia Earhart papers, memorabilia and artifacts.
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Website
Smithsonian Institution

National Air and Space Museum: America by Air: Early Commercial Aviation

For Students 9th - 10th
Commercial airlines took flight soon after the Wright brothers' famous first flights. Read about how the U.S. government encouraged the development of air travel.
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Article
Smithsonian Institution

National Air and Space Museum: America by Air:the Jet Age, 1958 Today

For Students 9th - 10th
Learn about the changes that have occurred in commercial jet travel since 1958, when jet passenger service began in the United States.
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Website
Smithsonian Institution

National Postal Museum: Fad to Fundamental: Airmail in America

For Students 9th - 10th
A comprehensive site of the history of airmail in America.
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Website
Smithsonian Institution

National Air and Space Museum: Women in Aviation and Space History

For Students 9th - 10th
Find information on the many women who became well known for their part in aviation history. Click on one of the drop down menus on the left to find a name, then click on the name to see a short description of the woman and her...
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Activity
Smithsonian Institution

National Air and Space Museum: Milestones of Flight

For Students 9th - 10th
This Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum site tells the history of fight with an easy to use timeline. Also, find out about specific flights in the list of links.
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Handout
Wikimedia

Wikipedia: Burt Rutan

For Students 9th - 10th
A biography of Burt Rutan, an aircraft designer who created a plane that overcame one of flight's last great challenges - circling the world without stopping or refueling. Describes the many aircraft he designed.
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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.
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Website
Other

Chuck Yeager

For Students 9th - 10th
"The fastest man alive," "The guy with the right stuff," "Mr. Supersonic," read about this true American on his own personal website. Filled with fact filled information.
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Activity
University of Chicago

Flights Before the Wrights: Octave Chanute, Chicago

For Students 9th - 10th
A site that chronicles the life of Octave Chanute, an aeronautical engineer involved in flight before the Wright brothers.
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Website
University of Chicago

Flights Before the Wrights: Octave Chanute, Chicago

For Students 9th - 10th
A site that chronicles the life of Octave Chanute, an aeronautical engineer involved in flight before the Wright brothers.
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Website
The Franklin Institute

Franklin Institute and Science Museum: First Flight

For Students 3rd - 8th
Experience the first flight, through words, pictures, and actual quotes from the Wright Brothers about their real life experiences prior to, during, and after the successful flight.
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Interactive
Smithsonian Institution

National Air and Space Museum: Pioneers of Flight: Civilian Aviation

For Students 9th - 10th
Even after Lindbergh's famous solo flight, he continued to explore flight and its possibilities. Look inside the Sirius cockpit and then pack up yourself to fly around the world. One problem, however, you only can take on a limited...
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Professional Doc
Scholastic

Scholastic Instructor: 100 Years of Flight

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Learn more about the first "100 Years of Flight" when you explore this article. It features resources, historical background knowledge and more.
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Handout
Other

Charles Kingsford Smith: First Across the Pacific

For Students 9th - 10th
A biographical profile of Charles Kingsford Smith, the aviator who made the first trans-Pacific flight in 1928.
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Handout
Other

Charles Kingsford Smith: First Across the Pacific

For Students 9th - 10th
This resource presents a biographical profile of Charles Kingsford Smith, the aviator who made the first trans-Pacific flight in 1928.
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Website
Other

Uscfc: Jack Northrop and the Northrop Corporation

For Students 9th - 10th
A biographical site about the man responsible for designing the sleek Vega that carried pilots on record-setting flights and for designing planes with a stressed skin over an internal frame.
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Website
Other

First Flight: First Transatlantic Flight 1919

For Students 9th - 10th
A succinct FirstFlight.org site that examines the trials and tribulations of the first flight across the Atlantic under the direction of Lieutenant Commander Albert Read.