Subjects Covered:  Language Arts, History, and Technology
 

Grade Range:  6-8
 

Learning Objectives:
 
Students will have the opportunity to:

• Research and write about a person in public life whom they feel is an aviation innovator
• Make a class presentation about their selected aviation innovator
   

Standards List:
 
(From McRel Standards, www.mcrel.org/compendium/browse.asp)
 
Language Arts Standards:

• Demonstrates competence in the general skills and strategies of the writing process
• Uses grammatical and mechanical conventions in written compositions
• Gathers and uses information for research purposes
• Demonstrates competence in the general skills and strategies of the reading process
• Demonstrates competence in the general skills and strategies for reading a variety of informational texts
• Demonstrates competence in speaking and listening as tools for learning

Historical Understanding Standards: Understands the historical perspective

• Understands that specific individuals and the values those individuals held had an impact on history
• Analyzes the influence specific ideas and beliefs had on a period of history
• Analyzes the effect that specific "chance events" had on history
• Analyzes the effects specific decisions had on history
• Understands that historical accounts are subject to change based on newly uncovered records and interpretations
• Knows different types of primary and secondary sources and the motives, interests, and bias expressed in them (e.g., eyewitness accounts, letters, diaries, artifacts, photos; magazine articles, newspaper accounts, hearsay)

Technology Standards: Understands the relationships among science, technology, society, and the individual

• Knows ways in which technology has influenced the course of history (e.g., revolutions in agriculture, manufacturing, sanitation, medicine, warfare, transportation, information processing, communication)
• Knows that technology and science have a reciprocal relationship (e.g., technology drives science, as it provides the means to access outer space and remote locations, collect and treat samples, collect, measure, store, and compute data, and communicate information; science drives technology, as it provides principles for better instrumentation and techniques, and the means to address questions that demand more sophisticated instruments)
• Knows ways in which technology and society influence one another (e.g., new products and processes for society are developed through technology; technological changes are often accompanied by social, political, and economic changes; technology is influenced by social needs, attitudes, values, and limitations, and cultural backgrounds and beliefs)
   

Tools and Materials:

• A copy of the program "Chasing the Sun," a television, and a VCR
• Computers with Internet access
   

Time Needed:
 
It is recommended that four 45-minute class periods be scheduled to complete this lesson.
 

Teaching Strategy:
 
Screen two or three segments from "Chasing the Sun" which profile a particular innovator. Recommendations from episode 1 include:

Following the screening of the segments, begin a discussion with students about the different aviators within the series. What makes their accomplishments special? How are they innovators? Have students brainstorm qualities that make a person an innovator and write them on the chalkboard for the entire class.
 
Then either assign students or ask students to choose one of the innovators profiled within the series. Ask students to do further research on their particular innovator, answering the questions listed below. Students will find "The Innovators" section of this website particularly useful in answering specific questions about moments in their subject's life. The web site also will provide additional links for students to research their subject.
 
Allow for library and computer research time for students to find information about their own innovator. Explain to the students the need to gather more than just factual achievements or actions. Indicate the importance of finding out personal information about the innovator. The objective of the lesson is to understand how innovators are three-dimensional figures and come from backgrounds not dissimilar from our own. Innovators are much more than the superficial image that the public has come to know about them. Innovators may even have weaknesses or faults. Stress the need to gather a well-rounded idea of the innovator.
 
After students have answered these questions, students should give a 3-5 minute speech to the class on the innovator they selected. Allow time for students to ask follow up questions of each presentation.
 
Questions
Specific questions that students should answer regarding their innovator:

• What qualities do you feel make a person an innovator?
• How does the innovator you've selected embody those characteristics? Describe the innovator's childhood. What values were instilled in the innovator? How might the innovator's background have influenced his or her future accomplishments?
• Was there a turning point in the innovator's life? Perhaps an important event or tragic moment which motivated the innovator? What lessons did the innovator learn from this turning point?
• Describe the moment(s) which make him or her an innovator? What action did the innovator take? What were the risks the innovator faced?
• Innovators often receive much fame and adoration for their accomplishments. Describe the fame or celebrity achieved by the innovator. What benefits did the innovator enjoy as a result of his or her fame? Were there any disadvantages to the innovator's celebrity status?
• How did the innovator spend the remaining years of his or her life? Even innovators have moments of misfortune. Did he or she experience any downturns in life? How did he or she recover? Why or why not is he or she still regarded as an innovator today?
   

Extensions/Adaptations:
 
Rather than focusing on one of the innovators whom is described in the series or web site, it might be more challenging to ask students to choose someone not covered in the series, such as Amelia Earhart, Wiley Post, Chuck Yeager, etc.
 
Perhaps there might even be an aviation innovator of particular interest to your community. You might be able to organize a class trip to a local aviation museum to learn more about that individual. Or perhaps a local historian knowledgeable about your hometown's innovator would be willing to come to your class in order to make a presentation about that innovator's achievements.
 
You might also wish to check with your local PBS stations to see if they might be willing to publish students' descriptions of aviation innovators on their web site. Some PBS stations have created local "Chasing the Sun" web sites. Many would be more than willing to publish student essays, particularly those relating to local aviation histories.
 
If a local PBS station can't incorporate your students' essays, you may want to assign your students to publish them on your school website. If your school doesn't have a website, now might be a great opportunity to create an aviation-themed web site.