Unit Plan
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University

De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: The First Flyers [Pdf]

For Teachers 1st - 3rd Standards
"The First Flyers" is a one page, nonfiction, reading passage about the Wright brothers and their obsession with flying. It is followed by questions which require students to provide evidence from the story; it includes: determining main...
Website
Curated OER

National Park Service: Aviation: From Sand Dunes to Sonic Booms

For Students 9th - 10th
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...
Handout
Science Struck

Science Struck: Events That Led to the Invention of the Airplane

For Students 9th - 10th
Discover the history of the first airplanes and flying machines, and how the Wright brothers constructed their first successful airplane.
Activity
University of Chicago

Flights Before the Wrights: Octave Chanute, Chicago

For Students 9th - 10th
A site that chronicles the life of Octave Chanute, an aeronautical engineer involved in flight before the Wright brothers.
Website
University of Chicago

Flights Before the Wrights: Octave Chanute, Chicago

For Students 9th - 10th
A site that chronicles the life of Octave Chanute, an aeronautical engineer involved in flight before the Wright brothers.
Website
Curated OER

National Park Service: Dayton Aviation National Historical Site

For Students 9th - 10th
Official website of the Dayton Aviation National Historic Park. Historic landmarks tell the stories of the lives of the Wright Brothers and Paul Laurence Dunbar.
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.
Lesson Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: What Makes Airplanes Fly?

For Teachers 7th - 9th
Students begin to explore the idea of a force. To further their understanding of drag, gravity and weight, they conduct activities that model the behavior of parachutes and helicopters. An associated literacy activity engages the class...
Graphic
Curated OER

Open University: First Flight: The Wright Brothers

For Students 9th - 10th
A look at what the Wright Brothers accomplished. Includes information on the scientific experiments that they conducted, and the 1903 flyer they built to protect themselves from injury as they both learned how to fly.
Graphic
Curated OER

Open University: First Flight: The Wright Brothers

For Students 9th - 10th
A look at what the Wright Brothers accomplished. Includes information on the scientific experiments that they conducted, and the 1903 flyer they built to protect themselves from injury as they both learned how to fly.
Graphic
Curated OER

Open University: First Flight: The Wright Brothers

For Students 9th - 10th
A look at what the Wright Brothers accomplished. Includes information on the scientific experiments that they conducted, and the 1903 flyer they built to protect themselves from injury as they both learned how to fly.
Professional Doc
Scholastic

Scholastic Instructor: 100 Years of Flight

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Learn more about the first "100 Years of Flight" when you explore this article. It features resources, historical background knowledge and more.
Website
The Franklin Institute

Franklin Institute and Science Museum: First Flight

For Students 3rd - 8th
Experience the first flight, through words, pictures, and actual quotes from the Wright Brothers about their real life experiences prior to, during, and after the successful flight.
Activity
Read Works

Read Works: The Amazing Flying Machine

For Teachers 4th
[Free Registration/Login Required] An informational text about the Wright brothers inventing the airplane and how that led to other aircraft inventions. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
Website
Library of Congress

Loc: The Dream of Flight

For Students 9th - 10th
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...
Website
Library of Congress

Loc: The Dream of Flight

For Students 9th - 10th
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...
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: The Wright Stuff: Using Kites to Study Aerodynamics

For Students 6th - 9th
If you are interested in aerodynamics, wait for a windy day and go fly a kite. This Science Buddies project gives you many ideas to investigate as experiment with shape, size, and ways to fly the kite. The Science Buddies project ideas...
Website
Smithsonian Institution

National Air and Space Museum: America by Air: Early Commercial Aviation

For Students 9th - 10th
Commercial airlines took flight soon after the Wright brothers' famous first flights. Read about how the U.S. government encouraged the development of air travel.
Activity
Curated OER

National Park Service: Dayton Aviation Heritage

For Students 9th - 10th
This site gives a lot of information on the commemorative park dedicated to the Wright Brothers and Paul Laurence Dunbar. Here you can read about this great author and find links taking you to the Dunbar House State Memorial, etc.
Activity
NASA

Glenn Research Center: Newton's Laws of Motion

For Students 9th - 10th
NASA presents a concise explanation of Newton's three laws of motion. Click on the highlighted vocabulary to find more detailed and illustrated descriptions. Included is a link to a movie that shows how the laws of motion described the...
eBook
Other

All Star: History of Aeronautics: Level 1

For Students 9th - 10th
A history of aeronautics focusing on the major types of air travel for each major time period. Excellent pictures are included in most sections. Easier reading is available by clicking on Level 2 or 3.
Unit Plan
CommonLit

Common Lit: Book Pairings: "Dragonwings" by Laurence Yep

For Students 9th - 10th
Moon Shadow is eight years old when he sails from the Middle Kingdom (China) to the land of the Golden Mountain (America) where he meets his father, Windrider, for the first time. In San Francisco, Moon Shadow and his father endure...
Handout
Science4Fun

Science4 Fun: Invention of Airplane

For Students K - 1st
Learn about the early efforts to fly, the Wright brothers first successful flight in 1903, and the modern airplane.
Graphic
NPR: National Public Radio

Npr: Evolution of Military Aviation

For Students 9th - 10th
An interactive timeline lets you see examples of military aircraft that have evolved since the first flight of the Wright brothers. Links at the bottom of the page lead to articles about fighter pilots.

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