First Flight!

 

Event-Based Science is a new way to teach middle school science. It is an award-winning, standards-based program in which newsworthy events establish the relevance of science topics; authentic tasks create the need-to-know more about those topics; and lively interviews, photographs, Web pages, and inquiry-based science activities create a desire to know more about those topics. Main EBS Page bernouli lift drag yaw pitch aerodanimics

First Flight! is an Event-Based Science module about how airplanes fly. It uses the Wright brother's first controlled, powered, heavier-than-air flight* and other firsts in aviation to establish the context for exploring physical-science concepts related to flight. The task in First Flight! places students in the roles of airplane designers. Students will acquire then use their knowledge of lift, drag, thrust, and gravity to design a new airplane. The airplane they design will compete in an Air Show at the end of the unit. *The first flight took place in 1783, the first powered flight in 1854, the first powered heavier-than-air flight in 1890. The Wright brothers were the first to successfully add control to powered, heavier-than-air flight. NSTA Recommends First Flight!

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If you are having any trouble getting the Puppet Plane Science Activity to work, here are some tips from EllaJay Parfitt, Southeast Middle School, Baltimore, Maryland. the best results:

1. Use light-weight fishing line and attach it with a very small amount of "tacky." I don't know what "tacky" is. EllaJay described it as a sticky, clay-like substance. Good luck.
2. Adjust everything to get a good balance before putting the plane in front of the fan.
3. Medium speed is best.
4. The plane works best between 1m and 1.5m in front of the fan.

Also, take a look at the plane position in the photo above. We know that this one works.

Click here to use Google News to search and browse 4,500 continuously updated news sources for breaking news about aviation.

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Below are some World-Wide Web sites where additional information is available. Click on the highlighted words and be linked with helpful sites.

Links to First Flight! related WEB Sites
(Links are checked monthly. They were working on the day of the last update.)

Kitty Hawk, NC The sight of the Wright Brother's first flight as viewed from space. Wright Flyer Online this NASA educational web site permits students to conduct real-time science. In March 1999, a model of the 1903 Wright Flier---the first airplane to make a successful powered and piloted flight---is scheduled for tests in the world's largest wind tunnel complex at NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA. Tests are to be conducted to ensure that a replica to be built by a non-profit institute can safely be flown by a pilot on Dec. 17, 2003, the hundredth anniversary of Orville and Wilbur Wright's first flight.

• U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission The Centennial of Flight Commission serves as a national and international source of information about activities to commemorate the centennial of the Wright Brothers' first powered flight on the sands at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, on December 17, 1903.
• Aeronautics History You probably know NASA for being behind our nation's very successful space program. But, did you know that NASA stands for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration? Aeronautics is the science of flight. By studying why and how airplanes fly, scientists and engineers can design and improve them. Every airplane that you have seen or flown on is made possible by the study of aeronautics.
• Aviation Links from NASA There are several great links on this site. We highly recommend the Beginners Guide to Aerodynamics.
• Plane Math Designed for students in grades 4-7 interested in aeronautics-related careers. Includes nine lessons on such issues as plane capacity, time zones, and flight planning. Extensive background information on the concepts behind the site is available for teachers and parents.
• AirSafe.com This site has been in operation since July 1996, just two weeks before the crash of TWA Flight 800. Since its inception, the goals of AirSafe.com have been to provide the aviation safety community and the general public with factual and timely information on events that involve the deaths of airline passengers. AirSafe.com also provides fatal event information by airline and aircraft model, as well as information about current aviation safety issues.
• State and National Traffic Accident Fatality and Injury Data This is a useful site that provides information useful to students as they conduct Interdisciplinary Activity: Mathematics: Flying is Safer Than Picking Your Friends and the Performance Assessment: Writing to Persuade.

Navigational Vectors After completing a number of pilot training lessons in which students learn how to use vectors, read real time weather maps, and track real planes flying in U.S. skies, students then put their knowledge to the test by taking the Pilot Test Flight. Here they will solve an authentic real world problem using science and mathematics. (This project is developed and managed by the Center for Improved Engineering and Science Education (CIESE) which is located at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey.) Welcome to Hang Gliding See the sites, meet the pilots, and find everything you ever wanted to know about the greatest flying sport on earth! Hang Gliding! Exploring Leonardo This excellent website offers resources for learning about Leonardo da Vinci, one of the best known, yet least known about, characters in world history. Explore this site and learn some fascinating things that are known about this scientist, inventor, and artist.

• Video - Wright Brothers Lift Off

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