Name: Jacob Varney, Bryan Price, Geying Zhang

Date: 7/8/2015
Grade Level: 4th/5th graders
Length: 45 minutes
Overview: Students will be given the opportunity to visit the Purdue Airport and learn about
various aspects of airplanes and flying. The students will be given the opportunity to watch
planes take off and land, meet student, and possibly professional, pilots and flight instructors,
and see all the interesting parts of Students might even learn how to make a paper airplane!
Learning goals: Students will be more familiar with airports, airplanes, and the phases of the
flight by the end of the lesson
Target audience and Learning environment: In this lesson, the learner will be 4th and 5th grade
students. There will be 15 to 20 students attend in one group. The students come from The
College Mentors of Kids (CMFK) organization. Each of them will be paired with one college
students. They are very likely to be at-risk and need motivation to achieve their potential by
fostering inspiration from other students. Most of them would be very interested in aircrafts.
Lesson content: During this lesson, the students will be able to see parts of the aircraft in the
hangar; the pilot will also explain more detailed for them at the same time; Letting students to
watch the airport takeoff up close; Allowing the students to speak and spend more time with a
student pilot or an professional instructor;
Learning environment: The hanger at Niswonger, where they will see the parts of the airplane;
the waiting room at Purdue airport, where they will meet with a pilot; and the reserved classroom
at Niswonger, where they will be taking their assessment after the tour;
Pictures of the Purdue airport and the airplanes:

Objectives:
Given an airplane diagram and a word bank, students should be able to label parts
of the plane.
Given a detailed description of an aircrafts state, students should be able to label
parts of the plane.
Standards:

 4.4.1: Investigate transportation systems and devices that operate on or in land,

water, air, and space and recognize the forces(lift, drag, friction, thrust, and gravity) that
affect their motion.
4.4.4: Define a problem in the context of motion and transportation. Document
the design of transportation devices and examine models of these devices.
5.4.2: Investigate the purpose of prototypes and models when designing a solution
to a problem.
Required Materials:
20-25 aircraft diagram worksheets
20-25 pieces of paper for the mentors to make paper airplanes
Classroom at Niswonger, tables prepared with assessment worksheets
Professionals are contacted and prepared for the lesson
Resources:
Phases of the airplane take-off: http://code7700.com/peds.html
Parts of the aircraft: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/456622849689582220/
4th Grade standards:
http://www.doe.in.gov/sites/default/files/standards/science/2010-Science-Grade04.pdf
5th Grade Standards:
http://www.doe.in.gov/sites/default/files/standards/science/2010-Science-Grade05.pdf
Procedure:
1. At least 24 hours prior to the lesson, contact the Purdue Aviation department to
find necessary personnel as described through this lesson plan.
2. Meet at gathering point at Stewart Center
3. Tell students about plans for the day
a. Hype up the parts about watching planes fly and seeing all the cool
parts of airplanes that make them fly
4. Travel out to the Purdue Airport by the Aviation Technology bus (5 min).
5. Depart from the bus at Purdue Airport.
6. Have student pilot or instructor meet group at the front doors and introduce
him/herself to the group.
7. Lead the students to the airport waiting room
a. Here there is a large window that will allow them to see the
runway and watch airplanes take off
8. Let the pilot/ instructor explain what they do while waiting for the aircraft to
come onto the runway
a. Explain what the pilot is doing before he/she starts flying.
9. When the airplane comes out onto the runway, have the pilot start explaining in
simple terms what phase is occurring.
a. Taxi - airplane comes out onto the runway; like a taxi cab driving
the pilot out onto the runway
b. Takeoff - plane moves faster and faster so it can start flying
c. Climb - like climbing a ladder into the sky; plane is tilted upward
and rising fast

d. Cruise - once you get to the top, its smooth sailing like a boat
cruise
10. After the plane is out of sight, review each of these phases using your hand to
help visualize each phase, while reiterating the descriptions about.
a. To engage students, give students an opportunity to answer about
which phase you are acting out
11. Have the pilot talk a little about his/her training until a plane comes into land.
12. As the plane is performing its landing routine, have the pilot start explaining in
simple terms what phase is occurring (if a plane does not come in for landing in about 5
minutes, go ahead and start explaining these phases using your hand).
13. Descent - like a dive; airplane is coming down fast for landing
14. Approach - Happens right after descent, like the airplane pulled out its parachute
so it can come in for a safe landing
15. Landing - the plane touches land and starts slowing down.
16. Taxi - airplane leaves the runway; like a taxi cab driving the pilot to where he/she
is leaving the airplane
17. After the plane is out of sight, review all of the phases using your hand to help
visualize each phase, while reiterating the descriptions about.
a. To engage students, give students an opportunity to answer about
which phase you are acting out. Try and pick students that did not answer last
time.
18. Walk over to Niswonger (5 min).
19. Meet with a technician/ pilot/ instructor (professional) at hangar (where the
airplanes are kept).
20. Allow students and mentors to walk around in pairs to look at various aircraft
components (5 min).
21. Let the professional start telling the students about the parts of the aircraft
(mentioned in the assessment) and what they do (in simple terms) (5 min).
22. Review these airplane parts by pointing and asking students which part it is.
23. Go to the classroom (5 min).
24. At each table, fill with pairs of mentors and buddies (5 - 6 buddies per table, with
mentors).
25. Have the mentors make paper airplanes and take turns acting out phases of flight.
(5 min)
a. Buddies will work together to figure out which phase is happening
and write this down on the worksheet.
26. After, have the buddies work on the diagram part of the worksheet together. (3
min)
27. Allow students to turn in work to mentors.
28. Take Aviation Technology bus back to Stewart (5 min).
Assessment: The students will also need to know the parts of the aircraft and what they do.
Students will be assessed using the following worksheets:

The students will fill out the worksheet about the phases of the flight after a brief review with
their mentors;

A.
B.
C.
D.

Propeller
Wing
Cockpit
Rudder
Flap
Engine