November 2007

Educators, welcome to our collection of SIRS® Challenge Quests! Students can view this month's quests, and last month's answers, inside your SIRS subscription(s) during the third week of the new month.

We recommend that you send students to the online version of these activities to give them a chance to find the answers on their own. You may save this email for your personal use as an answer key. To access these activities via your SIRS subscription, click on Suggested Research Topics under Database Features.

SIRS Discoverer®

Amelia Earhart may be the most celebrated woman pilot, but there are many renowned female aviators who can boast groundbreaking accomplishments. Examples include Harriet Quimby, the first licensed U.S. woman pilot, and Jacqueline Cochran, who broke the sound barrier in 1953.

In 1921, who became the first licensed African-American woman pilot?

Answer Pathfinder

Subject Heading(s): Airplanes; Women air pilots

Keywords: "female aviators"; "woman pilot"

Topic Browse Path: NOTABLE PEOPLE: Astronauts, Aviators & Pilots

Article(s) | Site(s):
"For Pilots, the Sky's the Limit," Christian Science Monitor, March 7, 2006

Answer: Bessie Coleman was the first licensed African-American female aviator. She was also the first woman pilot to attain an international aviation license.

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SIRS Knowledge Source®

The Cherokee language is an endangered language, spoken by about 10,000 people in Oklahoma and on the Cherokee Reservation in North Carolina's Great Smoky Mountains. This Iroquoian language is the subject of several preservation efforts, including the National Endowment for the Humanities' Documenting Endangered Languages initiative and Cherokee language immersion programs in schools. The verb-based language is considered to be very difficult to learn.

How many consonants and vowels are found in the Cherokee language?

A. 9 consonants and 5 vowels
B. 11 consonants and 6 vowels
C. 13 consonants and 7 vowels
D. 15 consonants and 8 vowels

Article(s) | Site(s):
"Speaking Across Generations," Humanities (National Endowment for the Humanities), Sept./Oct. 2005

Answer: B. 11 consonants and 6 vowels.

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SIRS Knowledge Source®.

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