Talking to a class of 1st graders!

RussR

RussR

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My daughter's school is having a "career day" of sorts and she has invited me to come talk to her class (about 26 people). Since it's 1st grade, calling it a "career day" might be a bit much, but they mostly want parents to come in, talk about their job, a little motivation to do well in school, importance of working hard, stay off drugs (yes they're hitting that theme early these days), that kind of thing.

I will be talking mostly about my work as a flight instructor.

Anyone done this type of thing for this age group before? Any advice? They do have projection capabilities in the classroom so I could put up some interesting aviation pictures.

Obviously I wouldn't be talking aerodynamics here, but just fun stuff to keep them interested.

My daughter is very excited to be introducing me to the class! It's cute.
 
The old "blow over the top of a piece of paper" trick to demonstrate Bernoulli comes to mind. Fun class participation, but don't pass out the paper first.

Maybe the progression of "student pilot, solo, private" to demonstrate studying and learning is important throughout life. Could also touch on age requirements "did you know the same age you are allowed to drive you could also learn to fly!? Even earlier in a glider"

A fun "riddle":
If a mile of road will take you a mile, how far will a mile of runway take you?
Answer: anywhere you want to go.

Good luck, we're all counting on you :)
 
Lots of pretty pictures and stuff to play with. Very little detail at that age.

Maybe one major point. Two if they are very brief.
 
Bring things they can touch and feel, maybe an old headset to pass around or even better yet if you can get your hands on some junk instruments. If you have enough old sectionals or something like that you could give to each of them I guarantee you'll be their hero for at least a couple of months :D
 
Yes, bring stuff they can touch and feel. (If you can influence the agenda, avoid being on after a firefighter; otherwise you are toast).

Start out by saying "Do you like things that go fast?" (You'll get a loud YEEESSSSS). Do you like things that are loud? (YEEEESSSSS again) "Then a career in flight instruction may be for you...." and go on from there.

End by saying there is one thing that can screw it up...drugs (and getting in trouble with the law in general). Never too early.
 
Just hope there isn't a firefighter coming. No matter what, they always have the coolest job. Everybody wants to slide down the fire pole. If you can, download some videos of Kirby Chambliss flying and show it to them first.
 
can you get a vacuum chamber? I have a small one for demos to talk about altitude and space. put a balloon or marshmallow inside and take it up to 30k ft or so. you'll never eat another marshmallow. or use Peeps. even funnier.
 
Allow your experience posting here and over at Red be your guide. That's a lot like dealing with a classroom full of first graders in most cases. :)
 
RussR said:
My daughter is very excited to be introducing me to the class! It's cute.
Click to expand...

It won't last.

jhausch said:
The old "blow over the top of a piece of paper" trick to demonstrate Bernoulli comes to mind. Fun class participation, but don't pass out the paper first.
Click to expand...
Actually that has nothing to do with Bernoulli's equations which apply to an ideal gas moving along a streamline. It is, however, a good demonstration of the effects of viscosity and the Conda effect.

One could argue that it doesn't make any difference to first graders, but...

Back to the topic at hand.

Stories work. Who was Charles Lindbergh's flight instructor?
A model airplane (with controls that move if available) to pass around or a glider to toss.

Explain that even adults (your students) are still learning and going to school.
 
Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe said:
A model airplane (with controls that move if available) to pass around or a glider to toss.
Click to expand...

I saw something like that at one of our open-houses.

EPO had a pile of those really cheap balsa wood gliders. Maybe you can get a bunch from CAP; I know they exist. They marked out an area on the hangar floor, made a mark at one end, and gave a free T-shirt to the longest flight.

You could only get a long flight by trimming the control surfaces for a good, straight glide, and by not throwing it too hard.

Might be a bit much for first graders, but not by that much.
 
re. touch and feel:

Bring your headset and allow them to try it on. They will love that part. If you've got a mirror so that they can see how they look, some will love it even more.
 
Good thing to do. Bring something to pass around.

I did that one day for my mom's 5th graders. I was up against a fireman, cop, astronaut, and farmer (complete with tractor). I think I set engineering recruiting back by several years. :(
 
Old97 said:
Good thing to do. Bring something to pass around.

I did that one day for my mom's 5th graders. I was up against a fireman, cop, astronaut, and farmer (complete with tractor). I think I set engineering recruiting back by several years. :(
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You just bring your pocket protector and safety glasses to pass around. :)

Vulcan ears are a bonus.

Times have changed. You can't even get a NASA pocket protector anymore. Though I do have a DoE "US Government" slide rule somewhere.
 
Bring a iPad/Tablet with digital sectional. Most kids that age (I have a 1st grader) have seen a GPS or Google Maps while mom and dad are driving - so they can see pilots can pretty much do the same thing to keep from getting lost.

If time allows, maybe a short intro video of GA flying. This one is from One-Six Right is very cool, but maybe you can find an even more appropriate one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sH_crB9xTc

Maybe, as a CFI, this one is even better:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8nKl8ovKKs
 
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AOPA has free education material. I'm planning a third grade field trip for 130 children to the airport and am following your thread with great interest.
http://www.aopa.org/path/materials.cfm



First grade might like these:
 

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MAKG1 said:
You just bring your pocket protector and safety glasses to pass around. :)

Vulcan ears are a bonus.

Times have changed. You can't even get a NASA pocket protector anymore.
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Sure you can. I'm 95% certain I've seen them in the gift shop here. Why you'd want one I don't know...

Anyway, back to the point, I'd really avoid any sort of teaching device -- I wouldn't bother with even the simplest explanation of lift or whatever. Make it interesting with an old headset or two, an old sectional, and hopefully a model to demonstrate the kind of plane you fly (or pictures). If you have a 1-2 minute youtube video you can play that might be fun, but pictures would be better to avoid setup time.

Just say what you do and keep it on the "I teach people how to fly! Some of them are still in high school, maybe that could be you one day" level.
 
dukeblue219 said:
Sure you can. I'm 95% certain I've seen them in the gift shop here. Why you'd want one I don't know...
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At Goddard Bldg. 1?

They might have some merchandise there from the 60s….

It's not in either of the gift shops at Ames or at Armstrong. Yes, I looked.
 
jhausch said:
That attachment of connect-the-dots drawings was great. He'd be a big hit if he handed those out...
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I was amazed that the AOPA would supply this material for no charge,so I contrbuted to the "dial down the third class medical" PAC.

the future pilot sticker looks like this:
 

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Maybe a short video of just over their neighborhood so they can see what the school and playground looks like from the air.
 
Thanks for all the great ideas! We had the event today - it was real low key, just me and my daughter's class (no big assembly or anything, and no other parents before or after me). About 30 minutes.

I showed some pictures of different types of airplanes up on the screen, talked about different types of flying jobs, and answered a lot of questions. At this age, it was neat to see what kind of things interested them. Like the N-numbers on the planes! Everybody wanted to read them off, out loud, on each picture. Funny. I showed them my headset and let them pass it around and try it on (they loved that), and even broke out a pair of foggles, which they also thought was really funny but wanted to try on too!

General upbeat, motivation message type stuff, stay in school, pay attention, do your homework, that kind of thing. Real basic info about flying. Most of it was pretty much at the level of "Wow, that plane looks fast!" and "Hey, that one's upside down!" I asked them a bunch of questions too, like who has been in an airplane before, who has been to an airshow, who likes gladiator movies, and so on. That got them engaged and they'd come right back with more questions.

Lots of fun!

I didn't have a chance to get aerial pics of their school or print out the AOPA connect-the-dot pages, but I think those are great ideas and I will definitely have them ready for next year if they do this again!
 
Sounds like a good time was had by all (including you).

Great!

Kids do sometimes fixate on strange things.

The older kids always ask us if a 747 can really carry a 20 ton telescope. Then you remind them that that's 200 FAA people, the aircraft was originally configured for over 300, and we typically carry less than two dozen.

The younger kids fixate on the flight suits. They are totally unnecessary, but NASA regs say to have them, so we do. And they enjoy anything they get to keep. Mission stickers and patches, posters, paper cutouts, you name it.
 
RussR said:
Thanks for all the great ideas! We had the event today - it was real low key, just me and my daughter's class (no big assembly or anything, and no other parents before or after me). About 30 minutes.

I showed some pictures of different types of airplanes up on the screen, talked about different types of flying jobs, and answered a lot of questions. At this age, it was neat to see what kind of things interested them. Like the N-numbers on the planes! Everybody wanted to read them off, out loud, on each picture. Funny. I showed them my headset and let them pass it around and try it on (they loved that), and even broke out a pair of foggles, which they also thought was really funny but wanted to try on too!

General upbeat, motivation message type stuff, stay in school, pay attention, do your homework, that kind of thing. Real basic info about flying. Most of it was pretty much at the level of "Wow, that plane looks fast!" and "Hey, that one's upside down!" I asked them a bunch of questions too, like who has been in an airplane before, who has been to an airshow, who likes gladiator movies, and so on. That got them engaged and they'd come right back with more questions.

Lots of fun!

I didn't have a chance to get aerial pics of their school or print out the AOPA connect-the-dot pages, but I think those are great ideas and I will definitely have them ready for next year if they do this again!
Click to expand...

Sounds like you did a great job! If kids are asking questions they ate very interessted and you hooked them! Great job!

I'm sure these kids will remember this long after you left. Good work for the kids and for the aviation world.
 
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