Charles Lindbergh – Aviation Pioneer Lesson Plan

Grade Range: 6-8

Note: This lesson is designed to be part of a Social Studies unit. It could be included in an U.S. History unit investigating the early 20th Century, or in the History of Flight.

Overview:

The subject of this Aviation Pioneer lesson plan is Charles Lindbergh. The web site sources for research contain a mix of comprehensive information regarding this famous aviator’s historical flight over the Atlantic Ocean. The activities for this lesson includes cooperative student learning teams investigating topics such as: Facts about the "Spirit of Saint Louis," Charles Lindbergh’s life, about the flight itself and problems he faced before, during and after the flight. The students will access this background information by logging on to the web site resources as listed in this lesson plan.

Objectives:

  • The students will learn the importance of Charles Lindbergh’s flight and its impact on history.
  • The students will be expected to know detailed information about the flight as a result of their own research and information presented during the oral presentations. The students should understand the history and difficulty leading up to modern day aviation, realizing that flight did not used to be as simple as it has become today. The students will learn to investigate topics of interest through searches done on the Internet.
  • They will be learning interpersonal communication and teamwork skills in their cooperative learning teams. They will learn how to process and filter information in order to present only the information pertinent to their content category.

Teaching Strategy:

This interdisciplinary lesson involves both Social Studies and Language Arts. The students will be busy studying the history of Lindbergh and his aircraft, the "Spirit of Saint Louis," in cooperative learning teams and collecting information from the Internet. Each team will be assigned a content category, each covering a different aspect of Lindbergh. The students will also be required to write a short summary on their "facts" category that they investigated, which they will then make a presentation to the class.

The lesson should require five class periods in a block schedule of about forty minutes each day, and then one additional day. The 1st & 2nd class periods will be used to introduce the lesson and students will search the web and take notes. The 3rd & 4th class periods will be utilized to develop the summary and organize the oral presentation. The 5th class period will consist of students giving their presentations to the class. During the additional day, the students will take a field trip to the closet aviation museum or as an alternative, invite a local aviation historian to speak to the class on the subject.

Tools and Materials:

  • Library Learning Center computers. Enough for the class.
  • Internet Explorer or Netscape.
  • Word Processing Program (i.e., Word or Word Perfect).

Internet Biography Sources:

Charles Augustus Lindbergh: www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/Explorers_Record_Setters_and_Daredevils/Lindbergh/EX15.htm.
Charles Lindbergh: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Charles_Lindbergh&printable=yes.
Charles Lindbergh: www.pbs.org/kcet/chasingthesun/innovators/clindbergh.html.
Charles Lindbergh Biography: www.charleslindbergh.com/history/index.asp.
Charles A. Lindbergh Biography: www.lindberghfoundation.org/history/calbio.html.
Wichita had chance for Lindbergh fame: www.wingsoverkansas.com/history/article.asp?id=108.

Beginning Skills & Knowledge:

The students will require the knowledge of what Charles Lindbergh accomplished and be aware of the significance of his flight. They will also need to know that this event took place on the 1920’s, which is relative to the U.S. History unit looking at the early 20th Century. They will need to have computer skills and know search techniques in the Internet.

A classroom educator who is doing this lesson would also need to have basic knowledge of Charles Lindbergh, which can be accessed, on the Internet Biography Sources, listed in the material above. The educator should also have knowledge of computer technique and Internet search skills, to be able to assist students and guide them in their research process. A beginning teacher could accomplish teaching this lesson because it is designed to allow the students to learn who Charles Lindbergh was through their own research. The educator will be in effect, a classroom manager and facilitator, maintaining positive classroom behavior as the teams are conducting their research.

Completion Evaluation:

The lesson will considered successful when the students have produced a comprehensive summary of their subject area during their oral presentations. Their success will be critiqued on the quality of the content as well as the quality of the presentation incorporating both Social Studies and Language Arts Standards. This lesson will also be considered successful if the students have manipulated the Internet in order to obtain the needed information. The presentation will be evaluated using a letter grade scale based on a scoring key that the educator designs for this lesson.

Alternative Variations:

The students may be allowed to search for web sites on the Internet on their own and not use the Internet Biography Sources provided above. This lesson plan could also be redesigned by using the same process to research other historic figures and events.

Recap:

This lesson plan places the responsibility of learning directly into the students’ hands. Bottom-line, this lesson will teach the students to value the importance of flight and its significant impact upon our history.

National Curriculum Standards:

McRel Standards at, www.mcrel.org/compendium/browse.asp.