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Lesson Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: May the Force Be With You: Drag

For Teachers 5th - 7th
This lesson plan explores the drag force on airplanes. The students will be introduced to the concept of conservation of energy and how it relates to drag. Students will explore the relationship between drag and the shape, speed and size...
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Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Windy Tunnel

For Teachers 7th - 9th
The purpose of this activity is to demonstrate Bernoulli's Principle as it relates to winged flight. The students will use computers to see the influence of camber and airfoil angle of attack on the lift.
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Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Heads Up

For Teachers 5th - 7th
The purpose of this activity is to demonstrate some of the different parts of an airplane through the construction of a paper airplane. Students will build several different kinds of paper airplanes in order to figure out what makes an...
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Graphic
Curated OER

Time Magazine: 100 Years of Flight

For Students 9th - 10th
TIME magazine offers a great look back at an amazing century of flight, including the inspirational aircraft, events and people involved.
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Activity
Exploratorium

Exploratorium: Hoopster

For Students 3rd - 8th
Students create their own airplane using straws and other materials and learn the principles of aerodynamics.
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Activity
Exploratorium

Exploratorium: Spinning Blimps

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Students create a blimp and then experiment with the design to improve its aerodynamics.
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Activity
Exploratorium

Exploratorium: Roto Copter

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students can experiment with a home-made helicopter that lets them change the blades to see how real aerodynamics work.
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Website
Other

Amelia Earhart: The Official Website

For Students 9th - 10th
A woman wrapped in the mysterious lore of the past makes for an unforgettable character. That, plus the mystique of incredible bravery gives Amelia Earhart a lasting place in history. To this day, her death is unsolved and her character...
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Article
Encyclopedia Britannica

Encyclopedia Britannica: 300 Women Who Changed History: Amelia Earhart

For Students 9th - 10th
Encyclopedia Britannica provides a short biography of Amelia Mary Earhart, the first person to fly from Hawaii to California, and the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.
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Activity
University of Missouri

Famous Trials: Charles A. Lindbergh

For Students 9th - 10th
This site presents a biography of Charles A. Lindbergh (1902-1972), the first person to fly non-stop across the Atlantic.
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Website
PBS

Pbs: American Experience: The Wright Stuff

For Students 9th - 10th
Companion website to the PBS documentary on the Wright Brothers and their contributions to aviation.
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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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Article
Siteseen

Siteseen: American Historama: Wright Brothers Facts

For Students 9th - 10th
Learn numerous fun facts about the first powered airplane flight by the Wright Brothers and the Birth of Aviation.
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Graphic
Smithsonian Institution

National Postal Museum: Art of the Stamp: Kitty Hawk (1903)

For Students 9th - 10th
View the artwork for a U.S. postage stamp issued in 1998 to commemorate the Wright Brothers first flight near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Includes a detailed paragraph about the famous flight.
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Article
University of Houston

University of Houston: Engines of Our Ingenuity: No. 1418: The Influence of War

For Students 9th - 10th
Does war inevitably advance the invention of new technology? Read this explanation of why this commonly held belief may not be true, at least in the example of military aircraft. This is a transcript of a radio broadcast.
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Article
University of Houston

University of Houston: Engines of Our Ingenuity: No. 1342: Wright and Langley

For Students 9th - 10th
Read about the controversy that emerged over the authenticity of Samuel Pierpoint Langley's flying machine, and the response of the Wright Brothers to attempts to usurp their place in history. This is a transcript of a radio broadcast.
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Website
Other

Arkansas Air Museum at Drake Field: Arkansas Air Museum

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Visit this resource to browse the museum's collection of early and historic planes and engines. Includes special exhibits of people from Arkansas who have made aviation history.
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Handout
Other

Wright House: Wilbur and Orville Wright

For Students 9th - 10th
This site is a biography of the Wright brothers and includes several pictures of airplanes.
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Graphic
Smithsonian Institution

National Postal Museum: Art of the Stamp: Harriet Quimby

For Students 9th - 10th
View the artwork for a U.S. postage stamp issued in 1991 to commemorate Harriet Quimby, the first woman ever to earn a pilot's license in the U.S. With a short passage on her accomplishments in both aviation and journalism.
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Interactive
South Carolina Educational Television

Know It All: Weight | Nasa Online

For Students 3rd - 8th
How does weight affect an airplane? Watch the simulation to find out.
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Article
University of Houston

University of Houston: Engines of Our Ingenuity: No. 283: Aeronautics: 1869

For Students 9th - 10th
Learn about the first efforts to build a flying machine in this discussion of a Harper's magazine article from 1869 in this transcript of a radio broadcast.
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Handout
Other

Eastern Illinois University: The Eustachian Tube

For Students 9th - 10th
Describes the role that the eustachian tube plays in maintaining pressure in the middle ear, during flight in an airplane or other changes in altitude and pressure. Tells why your ears pop more on the descent than on the ascent of a flight.
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Website
PBS

Pbs: Nova: Top Gun Over Moscow

For Students 9th - 10th
An online exhibit investigating the sensations experienced by a cockpit pilot in a Russian aircraft. Focuses on G-forces and apparent weightlessness.

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