The Courage to Soar

National Aeronautics and Space Administration The Courage to Soar Educational Product Educators Grades 3–5 EG-2008-03-36-MSFC Cover: Original art by Robert Sallee of Media Fusion. Aircraft pictured: a. Bell X–1 b. X–43 c. B–2 Stealth d. SR–71 Blackbird e. Wright Flyer I f. Spirit of Freedom Balloon g. Montgolfier Balloon h. B–52 i. Blackhawk j. Voyager k. Boeing 747 l. Curtiss JN 4–D Jenny m. C–130 n. De Havilland Canada DHC–3 Otter Float Plane ... with o. Philip p. Susan q. Annie r. Leapold s. Straw Plane (construction on page 235) The Courage to Soar The Courage to Soar National Aeronautics and Space Administration Marshall Space Flight Center Exploration Systems Mission Directorate: Ares Projects Generally, the information contained in this document is in the public domain. Permission is not required for its duplication for classroom use. However, there are certain materials included in the document, such as photographs, art, and other images, that have source information provided for them. If there is source information provided for these materials, permission for their use outside the classroom should be obtained from their provider. The Courage to Soar—An Educators Guide With Activities In Science, Mathematics, Language Arts and Technology i The Courage to Soar ii The Courage to Soar Table of Contents Table of Contents Acknowledgements . .1 How to Use This Guide ........................................................... .3 Activity Format . 3 Unit Overview .......................................................................... 3 Pre-unit Instructions . 4 National Education Standards. .5 Science—National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences . 5 Mathematics—National Council of Teachers of Mathematics . 6 Geography—National Council for Geographic Education . 7 Language Arts—National Council of Teachers of English ....................................... 8 Technology—International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) . 9 Technology—International Technology Education Association (ITEA) . 10 Activity One—Kite Flight . .11 Lessons 1 and 2—Materials and Pre-lesson Instructions . 13 Lesson 1—A History of Kites . 14 Students are introduced to the unit, begin a KWL (What We Know, What We Want to Know, What We Learned) chart, and read a selection on the history of kites. Lesson 2—Famous People and Their Kites ................................................. 18 Students read a selection on famous people who used kites in their work and construct a sled kite. Lesson 3—Go Fly a Kite. 32 Students fly their kites and then write and illustrate a story about the experience. Activity Two—The Flight Timeline. .33 Lesson 4—Creating the Flight Timeline .................................................... 35 Students use their research to construct a timeline of people and aircraft that contributed to the development of flight. Activity Three—Aviation Pioneers . .41 Lesson 5—They Never Gave Up . 43 Students read a selection on aviation pioneers and construct a rotor motor. Activity Four—Having the Right Stuff–The Wrights and Blériot . .55 Lessons 6 and 7—Materials and Pre-lesson Instructions . 57 Lesson 6—The Wright Brothers ........................................................... 58 Students read a biography of the Wright Brothers and identify the character traits which led to their success. The Courage to Soar—An Educators Guide With Activities In Science, Mathematics, Language Arts and Technology iii The Courage to Soar Table of Contents Lesson 7—Louis Blériot . 76 Students read a biography of Louis Blériot, identify the character traits, which led to his success, and complete a Venn diagram comparing Blériot to the Wrights. Activity Five—Flying a Styrofoam® Plane. .91 Lesson 8—Will it Fly? .................................................................. 93 Students construct and fly a Styrofoam® plane and measure distances. Activity Six—Looking For Answers—A Research Project . .95 Lessons 9–12—Materials and Pre-lesson Instructions . 97 Lesson 9—Modeling the Research Process and the Writing Process .............................. 98 Lesson 10—Conducting Research ......................................................... 99 Students research the answers to their own questions about flight. Lesson 11—The Finished Product . 99 Students write and illustrate the answers to their questions. Lesson 12—Presenting the Research . 101 Students present their papers and illustrations to the class. The presentations will later be bound into a class book. Activity Seven—The Matter of Air . .103 Lessons 13 and 14—Materials and Pre-lesson Instructions . 105 Lesson 13—Air Works for Me ........................................................... 106 Students list the uses of air, review the states of matter and the scientific process, and then read a selection about the properties of air. Lesson 14—Discovering the Properties of Air . 118 Students use the scientific process to conduct experiments on air. Activity Eight—The Four Forces of Flight . .143 Pre-activity Instructions . 145 Lesson 15—The Four Forces of Flight at Work . 146 Students participate in activities demonstrating the four forces of flight and read a selection that briefly describes those forces. Lesson 16—The Pull of Gravity . 153 Students read a selection about gravity and rotate in small groups to conduct experiments on gravity. Lesson 17—It Lifts Me Up—The Force of Lift ............................................... 174 Students read a selection about lift and rotate in small groups to conduct experiments on lift. Lesson 18—The Opposing Forces of Thrust and Drag . 194 Students participate in activities demonstrating the forces of thrust and drag and read a selection describing those forces. Lesson 19—Thrust and Drag Experiments . 203 Students rotate in small groups to conduct experiments on thrust and drag. iv The Courage to Soar Table of Contents Activity Nine—Controlling the Plane . .219 Lesson 20—It’s All About Control ........................................................ 221 Students construct a straw plane and read a selection about the parts and the control of a plane. Lesson 21—Experiments and Test Flights .................................................. 233 Students use their straw planes to conduct experiments on the parts that control roll, pitch, and yaw, and then conduct and measure test flights of their planes. Activity Ten—Soaring Higher . .249 Lesson 22—Faster, Farther, Higher . 252 Students calculate their rates of running and walking, read a selection about the progress of transportation that concentrates on air travel, and graph the speeds of various aircraft. Lesson 23—Our Super Planes .......................................................... 275 Students complete the KWL chart, present their designs for a future Super Plane, and construct a glider model of the X–43 airplane. Resources . .281 General Links Related to Aeronautics and Aviation .......................................... 281 Web sites for student enrichment and teacher resources Links Related to Activities .............................................................. 282 A list of Web sites to enrich specific Activities Suggested Reading . 283 A list of children’s books on the subject of flight Materials List ......................................................................... 286 A list of materials for each activity The Courage to Soar—An Educators Guide With Activities In Science, Mathematics, Language Arts and Technology v The Courage to Soar vi The Courage to Soar Acknowledgements Acknowledgements Funding and support for development of this guide were provided by the Ares Projects Office at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. Author and Senior Editor Beatrice Jane Tyson Universities Space Research Association Visiting Researcher at Marshall Space Flight Center Expert Readers/Editors Lawrence D. Huebner Aerospace Engineer at Langley Research Center Ronald J. Unger Project Manager at Marshall Space Flight Center Copy Editor Melissa A. Frazier Science Applications International Corporation Technical Writer at Marshall Space Flight Center Readers Cindy Rogers Education Program Specialist at Marshall Space Flight Center JoCasta Green Education Program Specialist at Marshall Space Flight Center Stephanie Ledbetter Elementary Teacher with Madison County School System Graphics Robert S. Sallee and Terri L. Reidy Illustrators at Media Fusion Ted E. Allbritton, Jennifer A. Harbaugh, Melissa S. Higdon, W. Patrick Karigan, Jennie L. Mitchell, and Pedro I. Rodriguez Illustrators at Marshall Space Flight Center Photographic Credits “To Fly is Everything...” By Gary Bradshaw: http://invention.psychology.msstate.edu/air_main.shtml Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division. NASA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration. National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution. U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission: http://www.centennialofflight.gov/sights/index.htm Wikipedia. Some images licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. Wright State University, Special Collections and Archives. Special Thanks to: Richard W. Tyson, Marshall Space Flight Center, for his encouragement, guidance, and support; Stephen A. Cook, Marshall Space Flight Center, for giving me the opportunity to write this guide; and Guen Robbins and Deborah Wesley, my teammates at Dare Elementary School in York County, VA. Many of the ideas and activities in this guide were the result of that teamwork. The Courage to Soar—An Educators Guide With Activities In Science, Mathematics,

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