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Dianna L. Brisco,
teacher at Brookville Local Schools, was selected with ten
other teachers from Ohio, to write Math and Science lessons
for the United States Air Force. Only the classroom was
actually the inside of a C-141 cargo plane and 13,000 feet
in the air. Through an application and interviewing process,
each teacher selected four fifth grade students to
participate in the experiments related to aviation
technology.
All the
participants wore their own personal flight suits complete
with last name, Operation Galileo insignia and American flag
patch. The teachers flew once without the students to test
their lessons and then a second time in order to help
conduct the experiments. The day with students at Wright
Patterson Air Force base near Dayton, Ohio began with a
briefing with air force personnel. By 10:30 a.m. they
boarded the cargo plane and soon took off.
While in the air,
they performed various experiments involving temperature,
speed, air pressure, drag, lift, and gravity. They also
used navigational maps to track their flight over Kentucky,
Indiana, and Ohio. Math formulas were used to figure fuel
usage. They visited the cockpit, used headsets to talk to
the pilot, copilot and flight engineer and observed the crew
prepare for landing. After eating a “crew lunch” and
landing back at WPAFB, a debriefing was once again conducted
by air force personnel. Results of all experiments were
discussed and conclusions recorded.
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