Tarah S. Cherry
Assembling a Time Line for: Who, What, and When
Purpose:
Students identify some of the significant people and aircraft in the development of flight.
Task:
Students construct an aviation timeline and explain the significance of events on the timeline.
Supplies
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1) Reference materials, roll of paper (e.g., adding machine tape or butcher paper), paste stick, photocopies of the “Who’s Who and What’s What” list and diagrams in this activity.
2) 15’ scroll paper.
Procedure
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1. Allow students sufficient time to find the date, significance in aviation history, biographical data, and other interesting information for the items on the list.
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2. Discuss the relationship of invention and technological development to today’s society.
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3. Have students create an aviation timeline, cutting out the strips of paper from the photocopied sheets and then gluing the strips together so they look like a yardstick.
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4. Have students illustrate the timeline. They color the eight circles that have drawings. They also create illusions for the four blank circles. In one of the blank circles, the student might draw a self-portrait as he or she appears today, and label it with the current date. In another circle, the self-portrait might be one of the student 25 years from today, with the appropriate date. The two remaining circles might be filled in with drawings of people, preferably from another generation, that the student knows (e.g., parents and grandparents), and labeled with their dates of birth.
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5. Have each student place each circle in the appropriate spot on his or her timeline.
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6. Students may hang their timelines at home, and explain the concept and contents to family members.
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7. For students who wish to draw their own timeline, large enough to go on a wall, have them draw the various airplane styles on a large scroll. This is a good whole class project.