Curated OER
"Buff at 50
Students study airforce aircraft. In this investigative lesson students discuss an article they read and divide into groups and design three different combat or peacekeeping situations.
Curated OER
On the Wright Brothers' Flight Path
In this airplane instructional activity, students complete a graphic organizer by comparing three Wright brothers' airplanes: how were they alike and how were they different.
Curated OER
The "Wright" Puzzle
In this airplane worksheet, students complete a crossword puzzle by figuring out the answers to 12 questions about the flying machines created by the Wright Brothers.
Curated OER
Airplane Parts
In this airplane worksheet, students complete a word search puzzle by finding 18 words associated with the parts of an airplane.
Curated OER
Mankind's Fascination With Flight
Students discuss, examine and appreciate the science and inspiration of flight. They study the terms and mechanics of powered flight and demonstrate that the heating of air makes it lighter and therefore rise. They discuss and...
Curated OER
John J. Montgomery: Controlling flight
Students research the history of aviation while looking at how gliders and airplanes fly. This lesson is the perfect way to intertwine Science and History. It has variations for all grade levels K-12.
Curated OER
How Things Fly
Students, by drawing on their own experiences, discuss and examine the basic physics of flight. They participate in a variety of activities regarding flight.
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: America in Class: America in the 1920s: Machine: Airplane
The National Humanities Center presents collections of primary resources compatible with the Common Core State Standards - historical documents, literary texts, and works of art - thematically organized with notes and discussion...
Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Learning Lab: Airplanes and Airports: How to Take Off Without Ever Leaving the Ground
Smithsonian Education presents "Airplanes and Airports: How to Take Off Without Ever Leaving the Ground." Teachers can download this teaching package that discusses airplanes and airports. Included in the discussion are the forces of...
Library of Congress
Loc: The Dream of Flight
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...
Library of Congress
Loc: The Dream of Flight
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...
Smithsonian Institution
National Air and Space Museum: Wright Brothers: The Invention of the Aerial Age
Beautiful, well-done site from the Smithsonian on the Wright Brothers: Who were they and what was the importance of the era they ushered in? Their roots are traced back to the Great Migration. Classroom activities and interactive...
Smithsonian Institution
National Air and Space Museum: Wright Brothers: Engineering the Wright Way
Great interactive provides students with an opportunity to use engineering skills to design and test airplane wings based on the methods of the Wright brothers. Step into the workshop and design a set of wings that will fly your glider...
Smithsonian Institution
National Air and Space Museum: Wright Brothers: Who Were Wilbur and Orville?
Classroom activities, interactive experiments, timelines, and other artifacts that celebrate the Wright brothers' first flight.
The Henry Ford
Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village: Wright Brothers
Biographical information on the Wright Brothers, including their childhoods, the Wright Cycle Shop, the world's first airplane, a chronology, and links to more information.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Up, Up and Away! Airplanes
The airplanes unit begins with a lesson on how airplanes create lift, which involves a discussion of air pressure and how wings use Bernoulli's Principle to change air pressure. Following the lessons on lift, students explore the other...
NASA
Nasa: Drag, Lesson 4
This video [12:28] shows how Newton's law of motion relates to the drag of an airplane. Watch as an instructor shows how the molecules colliding with the airplane create drag.
BBC
Bbc News: Week of 3 10 14: Missing Malaysia Airlines Plane 'A Mystery'
Learn about the Malaysia Airlines plane that has gone missing and what authorities and the airline are doing in an attempt to find the missing aircraft. Includes video. [2:06]
Exploratorium
Exploratorium: Spinning Blimps
Students create a blimp and then experiment with the design to improve its aerodynamics.
Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments: Numb3 Rs: Experimenting With Paper Airplanes
Based off of the hit television show NUMB3RS, this "fun" lesson has students creating paper airplanes and testing different variables (weight, wings, etc.) to see what type of plane flies the best. Data Analysis and imagination are both...
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Flight Simulators: From Flaps to Flying
Before pilots ever step behind the controls of a real jet they've already logged thousands of virtual air miles. It might not qualify you to fly a real jumbo jet, but you too, can learn the logistics of aviation by experimenting with the...
Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Learning Lab: Stories of the Wrights' Flights
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...
Curated OER
National Park Service: Aviation: From Sand Dunes to Sonic Booms
Features 100 aircraft, airfields, research labs, military installations, battle sites, launch facilities, and other places that tell about people and events that made the U.S. a world leader in aviation. Highlights of this travel...