[Surnetkids] Wright Brothers

Dear Reader,

Today’s topic is in honor of Orville Wright’s birthday on August 19, 1871. I can’t imagine a world without air travel, can you?

See ya on the Net,
Barbara J. Feldman
“Surfing the Net with Kids”
https://www.surfnetkids.com

Wright Brothers
https://www.surfnetkids.com/resources/wright-brothers/

Wright Brothers Printable(** for Premium Members only)
https://www.surfnetkids.com/printables/files/printables-club/wright-brothers.pdf

On December 17, 1903, the Wright brothers made the world’s first flight in a power-driven, heavier-than-air machine that cost about $1000 to build. With Orville at the controls and Wilbur on the ground, the plane flew 120 feet in twelve seconds. Although man had dreamt of flying for centuries, it took these two unschooled young men (bicycle shopkeepers by trade) to finally lift us off the ground.

Biography: The Wright Brothers

“Born four years apart, brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright grew up in a small town in Ohio. They shared an intellectual curiosity and an aptitude for science, at a time when the possibility of human flight was beginning to look like a reality.” Start your visit with a three-minute video narrated by biographer David McCollough, then proceed to the Orville and Wilbur biographies below.

Mississippi State: The Invention of the Airplane

This site opens with a quote from German hand glider engineer Otto Lilienthal: “To invent an airplane … is nothing. To build an airplane … is something. But to fly … is everything.” In addition to the terrific photo gallery and exhaustive database of early aviators, I recommend The Tale of the Airplane. There you will find what the authors call a “Puritan fairy tale. It is the story of how two honest, straightforward, hard-working Americans accomplished something fantastic and magical — creating a craft of stick and fabric that mounted the air like the chariots of the gods, opening the skies to all humankind.”

National Air and Space Museum: The Wright Brothers

“How did two men, working essentially alone and with little formal scientific training, solve a problem so complex and demanding as heavier-than-air flight, which had defied better-known experimenters for centuries?” Marking the 100th anniversary of the Wright Brothers’ Kitty Hawk flight of 1903, this museum site covers Who were Wilbur & Orville, Inventing a Flying Machine, and The Aerial Age. It includes biographies, interactive experiments, and classroom activities.

… Click to continue to Wright Brothers

Printables Club Members Also Get …

Surfnetkids Printables Club Members also get the following printables to use in the classroom, the computer lab, the school library, or to send home with students:

Wright Brothers Printable
Wright Brothers Quiz and Worksheet
Wright Brothers Wikipedia Printable
Paper Airplanes Printable
Amelia Earhart Printable
Charles Lindbergh Printable
*** Are you curious? Get your own ten-day trial membership:
https://www.surfnetkids.com/printables-club/

Related Games

Quote of the Week

“The desire to fly is an idea handed down to us by our ancestors who… looked enviously on the birds soaring freely through space… on the infinite highway of the air.” ~~ Wilbur Wright ~~ (April 16, 1867 – May 30, 1912) American inventor and aviation pioneer. Check out these other quotes about dreams.

Surfing the Calendar