History of Aviation

The history of man-made flying devices goes back to Ancient Greece and China where devices such as balloons filled with hot air, kites, and bird like devices were launched from high points. Other devices such as unmanned gliders continued to be developed over the centuries, but with limited success. During the latter 1800s, lighter-than-air balloon-type devices called dirigibles created a new era of aviation success.

But, none of these flying machines were manned, heavier-than-air, or controlled by an onboard engine.

The Wright Brothers made the first sustained, controlled, powered, and heavier-than-air manned flight at Kill Devil Hills, NC, four miles south of Kitty Hawk on December 17, 1903. Although there are several records of successful attempts to fly similar aircraft, the Wrights are credited with starting the Age of Aviation. The Wrights also appear to be the first design team to make serious, studied attempts to simultaneously solve the power and control problems necessary to develop the first series of aircraft that could be used successfully for commercial and military applications.

Since that historic flight of the Wright Brothers, more than 100 years ago, other generations of inventors have developed modern aircraft that can fly people from country to country at supersonic speeds, helping to develop a global economy. And, only fifty years ago, the space program was born, taking astronauts to the moon and outer space, and bringing them back successfully. What will the next fifty years of spaceflight bring and what new technologies will have to be developed to explore the new frontier of space?

eLibrary Elementary BookCarts (details) are flexible lesson plans for inquiry-based learning activities.

Instead of sending students out to search eLibrary Elementary, and often waste time in finding and selecting topic relevant resources, assign students to open a BookCart learning activity that minimizes searching and maximizes learning. BookCarts can include all the information and resources that students need to complete the learning activity:

• Essential Questions for Critical Thinking that guide and motivate students
• Student Directions that list what students are expected to do with the resources
• Correlated Print Resources provide call numbers for students to include in their research
• Quizzes when appropriate to assess student knowledge of content

ProQuest has created a BookCart learning activity for your students to use: "Aviation History."

It includes four examples of essential questions for critical thinking that you can assign to your students. You can even create more or substitute others if you wish. Here are the instructions for you to copy this BookCart into your local collection for students to use:

• Logon to the eLibrary Elementary TEACHER EDITION to access BOOKCART EDITOR.
• Click the BOOKCART ADMIN link at the top right of the Teacher Edition.
• Click the PROQUEST CARTS tab.
• Type "Aviation History" in the SEARCH box.
• Click the COPY icon in the ACTIONS column to the right of this title.
• Click RETURN TO MY LOCAL CARTS.

This BookCart can easily be edited for most effective use by your students:

• Click the new BookCart Title with the prefix "COPY OF."
• Delete "Copy of" and then type your first and last name in the AUTHOR boxes.
• Type your email address in the EMAIL box; or use your initials as the required filler.
• Edit the sample of STUDENT DIRECTIONS in the DESCRIPTION box.
• Option: type call numbers for PRINT RESOURCES related to this topic.
• Scroll down and click SAVE.
• Click MY LOCAL CARTS tab to see your newly edited and ready to use learning activity.

Use our custom ProQuest models for written or PowerPoint reports written and PowerPoint-style reports.

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