The submitter of our highlighted lesson received a $50 honorarium. See our guidelines to submit your lesson plan!

Subject: Arithmetic Process Skills
Grade: 6-8, 9-12

Brief Description

I have designed a Web site with the following scenario: Students earn a commercial pilot's license and are hired by Chapman Airlines, a charter airline based at the Oakland Airport. Their first flight will be from Oakland Airport to O'Hare Airport in Chicago. Students answer questions regarding fuel, aircraft weight and performance, and weather conditions. My Web site contains links to other Web sites to use as resources.

Objectives

Students

• develop an awareness of the importance of mathematics in a diverse number of careers.
• describe three duties of a pilot that require mathematical skills.
• increase understanding of interpreting data relationships presented in table format.

Keywords

airplanes, Web-based, careers, pilot

Materials Needed

• computers with Internet access
• http://www.carynlong.com
• teacher-made nametags for students
• paper
• pens
• calculators

Lesson Plan

• Set up nametags for three or four students at each computer.
• Instruct students to take their assigned seats.
• Begin the lesson by playing a sound clip of a lift-off countdown (liftoff.wav). This sound file is linked to the airplane graphic at Takeoff.
• Say: "Today we are on a mission of exploration. Rather than the universe, we will explore a specific career. Which careers require math skills?" Call on students to share their responses.
• Respond with the following:

  "Those are all really good answers. In fact, all jobs require math in one way or another. Today, we're going to explore the career of commercial pilot. Commercial pilots work for airlines, such as American Airlines; for charter companies; and for delivery services, such as United Parcel Service (UPS). Before you can fly commercially, you need a license issued by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The FAA has authorized me to issue each of you a temporary commercial pilot's license. The good news is that I've already found you jobs with Chapman Airlines. To help you with your first flight, I've designed a Web site. Because you're new pilots, each aircraft will have three or four pilots. Using your Web browser, go to http://www.carynlong.com. You will work in your groups to complete your first flight. Access only the Internet sites that are linked to my Web site."

• Ask: "Before we fly off into the wild blue yonder, are there any questions?"
• Tell students to follow instructions on each page of the Web site, accessing the links to resource Web sites as needed.
• Have students use resources and information provided to perform calculations as required.
• Circulate among the groups to monitor student progress.

Extension: Paper Airplanes

• Students print paper airplane diagrams from the Internet and bring them to class. The following Web sites provide paper airplane diagrams: Just Plane Fun and Flights of Fancy.
• So the airplanes are not crushed, tell students to fold the airplanes in class.
• Have students test fly their airplanes on the track field, measuring distance flown and time airborne.
• Students chart the airplanes' performance, using statistical measurements: mean, median and mode. Enter, or help students enter, the information in a spreadsheet and create a chart.

Assessment

Use the Teaching Resource to check students' answers.

RUBRIC
5 points
Students

• Correctly calculated all answers on the flight plan.
• Properly shut down computer.
• Brought paper airplane diagram to class.
• Recorded both distance flown and time airborne for the flight.

4 points
Students

• Correctly calculated most of the answers on the flight plan.
• Properly shut down computer.
• Brought paper airplane diagram to class.
• Recorded both distance flown and time airborne for the flight.

3 points
Students

• Correctly calculated some of the answers on the flight plan.
• Properly shut down computer.
• Brought paper airplane diagram to class.
• Recorded either distance flown or time airborne for the flight.

2 points
Students

• Correctly calculated some of the answers on the flight plan.
• Properly shut down computer.

1 point
Students

• Correctly calculated some of the answers on the flight plan.

Lesson Plan Source

Submitted By

Caryn Long

The submitter of our highlighted lesson received a $50 honorarium. See our guidelines to submit your lesson plan!