I have always been fascinated in Amelia Earhart. Earhart was one of the first biographies I remember reading in grade school. She was such a role model as I was growing up. She showed that a woman was capable of doing anything she set her mind to doing!
Over the years I have been following Richard Gillespie’s TIGHAR (The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery) attempts to discover what happened to Earhart and her co-pilot, Fred Noonan, when they disappeared somewhere over the Pacific in an attempt to circumnavigate the earth. Gillespie believes he has solved the mystery. He says Earhart and Noonan were forced to land on a remote island in the Pacific called Nikumaroro, as they didn’t have enough fuel to make it to Howland Island. A number of artifacts have been found on the uninhabited island including a size 9 shoe of the style worn by Amelia Earhart. Additionally, an aluminum navigator’s book case was discovered, similar to that which would have been on the type of plane (Electra) flown by Earhart. An empty jar similar to a freckle ointment which Earhart used, a zipper from a flight jacket, a woman’s mirror, and fragments from a plane, have also been unearthed. The U.S. Navy that conducted a search for the missing aviator and her navigator recorded that campfires were spotted on the island but no search was done as it was thought to be made by natives living on the island. Now, Amelia Earhart is once again in the news. Human remains which were found on the island back in the 1940s and thought to be male have been studied and scientists have discovered the remains belong to a woman! Comparing the arm bone to a photograph of Earhart, the humerus is similar in size. The mystery isn’t solved as to what happened to Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan but evidence continues to suggest that they survived a forced landing on the island of Nikumaroro but without food and drinking water, eventually died.
Check out my Reader’s Theater Script on Amelia Earhart. Students will have fun acting out their parts and learning some interesting facts about Amelia Earhart. Comprehension questions, discussion questions, extension activities, and links are also listed. The biographical play addresses several common core standards in social studies, speech and listening, and language arts.
Gail
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