ROBERSON MUSEUM AND SCIENCE CENTER Pre-Visit Link: The Early Age of Flight Grade Level: 3rd -7th New York State Learning Standards: M S & T 1, 2, 4, & 5 Pennsylvania Learning Standards: S & T 3.1, 3.2, 3.6 & 3.8 Objectives: Students will be given a brief history of flight beginning with the Wright Brothers and ending at the time of Edwin Link preparing them for their tour of the the Link Exhibition. Younger students will be given the opportunity to view and color the 1903 Wright Flyer while older students will build a paper model airplane. Materials: Lesson Plan notes on the brief history of flight Coloring sheets for the 1903 Wright Flyer and the DC-3 Aircraft Directions and photos for building a paper model airplane Sheet of paper (different colored paper would be fun) Crayons or markers for coloring Procedure: Part I The Brief History of Flight: 1. Wright brothers, Wilbur, born on the 16th of April 1867, and Orville, born on the 19th of August 1871, built and flew the first airplane in human history. 2. Born in Millville Indiana, the brothers were engineers and tinkerers who founded the Wright Cycle Company in Dayton Ohio in 1892. 3. While the bicycle business sustained them, they began to experiment with kites, gliders and other flying machines. Their imaginations took them towards the sky with the dream of building a powered machine that would sustain a man aloft. 4. With Orville at the controls, in Kitty Hawk North Carolina on December 17th 1903, they completed their first successful flight. Others had flown in gliders and balloons, but the Wrights creation was the first manned, motor powered craft heavier-than-air. Page 1
5. By the fall of 1905, they had built the first practical airplane. In the summer of 1908, they won world fame with their first flights in Europe and America. 6. They signed their first contract for sale of military airplanes to the U.S. Army in 1908. 7. Until Edwin Link, came on the scene around 1927, learning how to fly for pilots was often a tedious and dangerous process. A pilot in training learned by trial and often error. Edwin Link who learned to fly this way himself, thought there had to be a better way. 8. Before long Link was working on an invention to make flight training easier, safer and less expensive. His first rendition of his trainer looked much like a bathtub. In the midst of the depression era, the world suddenly became more air minded. In 1939 the Department of Commerce established the Civilian Pilot Training Program where actual flight training for young adults became part of public policy, which was mandated by the government. Link had sent one of his Link Trainer Machines to Washington and several of his employees to help with this program. 9. However the home of the Link Trainer, now called the Link Flight Simulator, was in Binghamton, New York where Link himself lived. You will be learning more about Link during your visit to Roberson Museum and Science Center. Part II: Working with Your Airplanes 1. For younger students hand out the attachments of the The World s First Airplane and Airplane Parts. Give the students time to color in the parts. Notice the key for color at the bottom of the page. 2. For older students tell them they are going to get a chance to build a really good paper airplane but they must follow directions carefully. All they need is a sheet of paper. They will be using the art of Origami to create a plane called the Nakamura Lock method named after the artist who designed it. Here is how to make it: a. Fold a sheet of paper in half lengthwise. Unfold it so that the crease is valley side up. Page 2
b. Fold the top corners down to the center fold. You have made a large triangle sitting on top of a square. c. Fold the entire triangle down to meet the valley crease. The top corners you just folded should lie down flat. d. Make a crease by folding about one inch of the tip upwards and then unfold. You may want to measure the inch. Page 3
e. Without unfolding anything, fold the new top corners down to the center fold line so that the corners meet above the fold in the tip you just made. Note that the top the nose of the plane should be blunt. f. Fold the tip up and place the corners underneath. This is the Nakamura Lock. g. Fold the entire plane in half so that the tip is on the outside. h. Fold the wings down so that they are parallel with the first center line crease. Page 4
i. The plane will be narrow in appearance. j. Trim and fly! Once you have made all of your folds and the plane looks symmetrical, it s time to trim it of adjust it, for flight. Give it a gentle toss forward. Your goal is to have it glide smoothly and gently to the ground, either flying straight or in a gradual curve. k. Make these adjustment if necessary: If the nose drops and the plane dives into the ground, bend up the back of the wings. A little bend goes a long way. If the nose rises and then drops, the plane is stalling. Bend down the back of the wing. Keep your adjustments small. l. Now that you have a flying plane you can use it to see the roles that paper plays in construction. After the kinetic energy (that is the energy you put into throwing it) of the initial throw has dissipated, paper planes are gliders powered by gravity. As the plane falls, its wings deflect the air backward and down, providing thrust and lifts. Paper makes a good wing because it s impermeable to air: In a single sheet of paper, multiple layers of interlocked fibers prevent air from flowing through. In contrast, a hole-filled screen from a back door would not make a very good wing. Attachments: The Worlds First Airplane (Coloring) Airplane Parts (Coloring) Paper Airplanes (Visual Instructions) Developed by: Barbara Betza & Origami by Nakamura Date: June 24, 2008 Page 5
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