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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Glow With the Flow

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students investigate the force of drag and how NASA engineers use models and glowing paints to examine how air flows over vehicles in a wind tunnel. They discover how the blended wing body will affect air travelers of the future.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Great River Bend Adventure

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students use their imagination. They discuss the 4 C's of teamwork: Concentration, Communications, Coomperation, and Consideration. Students discuss the safety guidelines of the project. They complete a rope maze. The group walks...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

So You Want to Hit a Home Run?

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students determine the center of percussion and the center of mass for a baseball bat.  In this projective motion lesson plan students demonstrate the relationship between the position of the baseball bat and when its in the position in...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Free Verse

For Teachers 1st - 5th
Students write free verse poems. In this poetry instructional activity, students use a three-step method to create a free verse poem. Students brainstorm ideas, let their ideas "incubate," and write a free verse poem.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Paper Dutch Kite

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students construct a Dutch Kite using simple materials. In this math lesson plan, students measure kite dimensions according to specified instructions. They also describe and define the different parts of a kite.
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Breaking News English: First Woman Swims Across the Atlantic

For Students 5th - 10th
For this English worksheet, students read "First Woman Swims Across the Atlantic," and then respond to 1 essay, 47 fill in the blank, 7 short answer, 20 matching, and 8 true or false questions about the selection.
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Breaking News English: Live Earth Rocks 2 Billion Worldwide

For Students 5th - 10th
In this English worksheet, students read "Live Earth Rocks 2 Billion Worldwide," and then respond to 1 essay, 47 fill in the blank, 7 short answer, 20 matching, and 8 true or false questions about the selection.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Ski in Slovakia in Style

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students read a short article about the mountains and skiing in Slovakia. In this ESL instructional activity, students explore the reasons that skiing is a popular activity in Slovakia, then complete several short activities to reinforce...
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Website
NASA

Nasa Goddard Space Flight Center Homepage

For Students 9th - 10th
Homepage of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center including latest news, maps and directions, upcoming missions, photo and movie gallery, and more.
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Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: The 'Ultimate' Science Fair Project: Flying Disk Aerodynamics

For Students 9th - 10th
Tossing a Frisbee with your friends is a great way to have fun in the sun. As you practice your throws and become more accurate, you're learning about the aerodynamics of Frisbee flight intuitively. You're learning the body mechanics...
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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.
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Handout
Smithsonian Institution

National Museum of Natural History: American Mammals: Southern Flying Squirrel

For Students 4th - 8th
Most of the Southern Flying Squirrel's range is east of the Mississippi River, but it occurs west of the river in central Texas, and as far south as Honduras, in Central America. Like the Northern Flying Squirrel, it has a gliding...
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Lesson Plan
Success Link

Success Link: Flying Into Spring

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Here are two lesson plans that apply geometric concepts to design objects. The first involves students as a group following step by step instructions on making a kite. After the review of geometry vocabulary, in cooperative groups the...
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Lesson Plan
BioEd Online

Bio Ed Online: Balloon Blast

For Teachers 9th - 10th
In the following instructional activity students are asked to devise a plan to measure the distance of a balloon's flight, predict the direction a balloon will travel as it deflates, learn about Newton's Laws of Motion, experience...
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Activity
NASA

Nasa: Rockets Educator Guide: Water Rocket Launcher

For Students 9th - 10th
Follow the directions in the lesson plan to construct a water rocket launcher made from off the shelf hardware and wood.
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Graphic
Curated OER

Educational Technology Clearinghouse: Maps Etc: Flight to Varennes, 1791

For Students 9th - 10th
A map to illustrate Louis XIV's flight from Paris to Varennes during the French Revolution (June 21, 1791). The goal of his unsuccessful escape was Montmedy, a Royalist citadel in northeastern France under control of Bouille's Army of...
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Lesson Plan
Smithsonian Institution

Smithsonian Education: Art to Zoo Kiting Up the Sky

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
This article provides a brief outline on the history of kites as well as information on the forces of kite flight. There are a couple lesson plans included. One lesson directs students in writing kite poems. The other includes...
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Website
PBS

Pbs Nova: Pilot the Wright Brothers' Flyer

For Students 3rd - 8th
In this interactive, find out how the Wright brothers' design of the first flyer provided lift and speed, and allowed the pilot to make adjustments in response to changes in wind speed and direction.
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Website
Other

Personal: The Laws of Motion

For Students 9th - 10th
This personal site explains the physics of angular momentum and their application to flight. Part of a much larger site on the procedures, principles, and perceptions of flight.
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Lesson Plan
Science and Mathematics Initiative for Learning Enhancement (SMILE)

Smile: Third Law of Motion

For Teachers 9th - 10th
This Illinois Institute of Technology site is a lesson plan and lab that utilizes a toy rocket to investigate Newton's third law. Includes directions and practical applications.
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Website
PBS

Pbs Frontline:target America

For Students 9th - 10th
Explores "America's first war on terrorism" that took place in the Reagan administration in the 1980s. Includes a timeline of terrorist attacks on Americans from 1979 to 1988, interviews with experts, and an overview of Islamic terrorism...
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Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Catapults!

For Teachers 7th - 9th
Students observe the relationship between the angle of a catapult (a force measurement) and the flight of a cotton ball. They learn how Newton's second law of motion works by seeing directly that F = ma. When they pull the metal "arm"...
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Article
Smithsonian Institution

Lemelson Center: Spark!lab: Create Indoor Kite [Pdf]

For Students Pre-K - 1st
Learn how Ben Franklin, Alexander Graham Bell, the Wright Brothers, and Guglielmo Marconi used kites as tools to spur innovation. Then follow the directions provided to create your own kite for flying indoors.
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Graphic
Curated OER

Wikipedia: National Historic Landmarks in Alabama: Saturn v Launch Vehicle

For Students 9th - 10th
This was the prototype for the Saturn V launch vehicle and was the first Saturn V constructed by the Marshall Space Flight Center under the direction of Dr. Wernher von Braun. It served as the test vehicle for the Saturn support...