Directions: Soar into history to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Wright Brothers’ first airplane flight! Write your answers on a separate sheet of paper, or on the reproducible provided by your teacher. 

 

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Name: ___________________________________________

1. When Wilbur and Orville Wright were very young, their father gave them a
______________________________________________, which began their life-long
fascination with the science of ________________.

Find the answer at: www.time.com/time/time100/scientist/profile/wright.html

2. Many years later, after successfully running a ______________ business, the
brothers began building their first models of flying machines. The first of these was
a small, pilot-less kite made of _________, ____________, and ____________.

Find the answer at: www.time.com/time/time100/scientist/profile/wright.html

3. On December 17, 1903, the brothers finally got their chance to test a full-scale airplane glider. They called it the ______________________. Orville took off first,
flying for a total of ______ seconds and a distance of ________ feet.

Find the answer at: www.nasm.si.edu/galleries/gal100/wright1903.html

4. That first, famous glider was made of spruce and ash wood and covered with ____________. This made the aircraft __________________, _______________, and ________________.

Find the answer at: www.nasm.si.edu/galleries/gal100/wright1903.html

5. On that December day at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, the brothers made four historical flights, even though the weather was __________________. At the end of
the day, disaster struck: A gust of wind damaged the glider’s _________, _________, and _______________.

Find the answer at: www.fi.edu/flights/first/during.html

6. Only 5 other people were present for the brothers’ historic flight. Many of those invited did not come because ______________________________________________. The first person the brothers contacted after they flew was ____________________.

Find the answer at: http://sln.fi.edu/flights/first/after.html

7. The three elements of flight that the brothers’ glider had mastered were _________, _________________, and ________________________. To learn even more about how flight works, the brothers observed ______________________________________.

Find the answer at: www.pbs.org/kcet/chasingthesun/planes/wrightfly.html

8. The Wright brothers never claimed they were first to fly. ___________________, an Englishman, may have tried it before them. However, Wilbur and Orville were the first to make a ______________ and _______________ flight.

Find the answer at: www.wright-brothers.org/History/History%20of%20Airplane/history.htm

 

 

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