Index

The Wright Brothers:

From Dayton to Kittyhawk

"Ohio had the intellect, Carolina had the wind".

quote by Neil Armstrong, Ohioan and First Man to Walk on the Moon

A Language Arts/Social Studies Webquest for 6th-8th Grade.
Developed by Pat Clingman

INTRODUCTION

During 2003, Dayton, Ohio, and the Dayton & Montgomery County Public Library will be celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Wright Brothers invention of the first powered airplane. The first successful flight occurred on December 17, 1903 at Kill Devil Hills in Kittyhawk, North Carolina. The airplane that flew at Kittyhawk was designed and constructed by the Wright Brothers at their Wright Cycle Shop in Dayton, Ohio.

To help the library celebrate, your class will create Newsletters about the Wright Brothers and the First Flight. The Newsletters will be available for patrons in the Dayton Collection local history room at the Main Library. They will also be available for patrons in the children's and young adult areas of the Main Library and Branches during the 2003 celebrations.

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TASK

Your classmates will be assigned to teams with the responsibility to create a Newsletter, using Microsoft Publisher, about the Wright Brothers for the 100th anniversary of powered flight. Your team will research, write, edit, and design the Newsletter. The one page Newsletter must include:

An Article about the First Flight at Kittyhawk, North Carolina;

An Article about the Wright Brothers; and

Historical Photographs about the Wright Brothers, including information about the photographs.

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PROCESS

You will be assigned to a team of 3 classmates
The team members will decide as a group which teammates will be assigned to the roles required for the Newsletter about the Wright Brothers. Click here to find out more about these roles.
The Internet will be your only research tool for this assignment.
Decide which Internet resource will be the best to use for your individual roles.
The team members who are responsible for writing articles (newspaper journalist and local historian) will complete their assigned tasks first, before the team creates the Newsletter.
The art historian will decide which photographs to use with the completed articles, then will discuss the photographs that have been chosen with their teammates.
The team will create the Newsletter with Microsoft Publisher from their finished articles and chosen photographs.
Each of the team members will use the evaluation rubric to grade yourselves on the completed Newsletter. A copy of each evaluation rubric should be given to your teacher.

ROLES

	You are a newspaper journalist researching and writing an article about the Wright Brothers First Flight in 1903.
(Courtesy of Carillon Historical Park)	You are an art historian researching and writing about historical photographs of the Wright Brothers to include in the newsletter your team members are writing.
	You are a local historian researching and writing an article about who the Wright Brothers were, their other inventions, and their life in Dayton, Ohio.

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RESOURCES

First Flight Celebration Organizations:
U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission

Historical Document:
How We Made the First Flight by Orville Wright

Historical Park:
Wright Brothers Exhibit at Carillon Historical Park in Dayton, Ohio.

Historical Photographs:
Wright Brothers Collection Exhibit at the Dayton & Montgomery County Public Library in Dayton, Ohio.

Wright Brothers Photographs at the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (Note: if you decide to use Library of Congress photographs, make sure you follow these directions: There are no known rights restrictions on the use of the Wright brothers photographs. When material from the collection is reproduced in a publication, the Library requests that the negative number be published with credit to the Library, such as:
"Library of Congress, LC-W861-35." )

Historical Societies:
First Flight Society in Kittyhawk, North Carolina

Museums:
Wright 1903 Flyer at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

Wright Brothers Aeroplane Company & Museum of Pioneer Aviation

Wright Brothers Online Exhibit at the Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village

National Parks:
Dayton Aviation Heritage National Park in Dayton, Ohio.

Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina

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EVALUATION

Wright Brothers Newsletter

Name: ______________________ Team Member's Role:________________
This rubric is for the evaluation of your work as a team on the Newsletter.

	Beginning 1	Developing 2	Accomplished 3	Exemplary 4	Score
Layout	The newsletter has numerous spelling and grammar errors. Design of the newsletter is poorly laid out.	The newsletter has several spelling and grammar errors. Design of the newsletter needs some improvement.	The newsletter has little or not spelling and grammar errors. Design of the newsletter is good.	The newsletter has no spelling and grammar errors. Design of the newsletter is exemplary.
Articles	The articles contain no factual information.	The articles contain factual information, but only include basic information about the Wright Brothers.	The articles are relatively appropriate and factual. The information provided is good.	The articles meet the project requirements. The articles are interesting and allow the reader to have an understanding of who the Wright Brothers were.
Photographs	Photographs are not used.	Photographs used are not appropriate for the Articles. There is no information about the Photographs.	Photographs used are relatively appropriate for the Articles. The information about the Photographs is not cited properly or is not appropriate.	Photographs used are appropriate for the Articles. The information provided about the Photographs is appropriate.
Cite References	No references are cited.	Some references are cited.	Most references are cited.	All references are cited.

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CONCLUSION

Congratulations on the completion of your Newsletters celebrating the Wright Brothers and the first 100 years of powered flight. The Newsletters, in addition to being offered to our library patrons, will be featured on the library's local history web page created for the 2003 celebrations. A copy of each of the Newsletters will also be kept in the library's Dayton Collection and will be preserved for future celebrations of the Wright Brothers invention of the first powered airplane.

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CREDITS

Background image designed by Stephen Wright for http://www.wam.umd.edu/~stwright/WrBr/Wrights.html

This page was last updated March 2005 by Trisha Armstrong