Name:F.A.A.: Education and Training
Brief Description of the Site:
So you’ve been asked to include aviation education in your curriculum, but you haven’t the foggiest knowledge of the topic. Or perhaps you are an aviation-aware person who volunteered to teach this topic. Either way you will be grateful for this portal, part of the Federal Aviation Administration’s educational outreach effort. The “Curriculum Guide†page offers links to a wide variety of aviation-education sites, from “A Model Aerospace Curriculum†to a bibliography of print and audio/visual aviation education materials to mathematics-related “Time in Aviation.†Many of the descriptions emphasize that the site is specifically for the educator with little aerospace knowledge. Then there’s “Educator’s Corner,†with links to lessons on four levels (K-3, 4-6, 7-8, 9-12) plus “Teachers’ Helper†(from the Wrights to Space Decontamination) and “Destinations of Interest†which opens a new page with a mind-boggling collection of links on aviation, space, science, pilotage, etc. Of particular interest are the links for Black- and Latino-oriented Web sites, including the National Air & Space Museum’s famed “Black Wings†site chronicling the history of African-Americans in aviation from Bessie Coleman to the Tuskegee Airmen.
How to use the site:
The most obvious use would be to adapt any of the lessons on the “Educator’s Corner†page. Another use would be to browse the resources on the “Curriculum Guide†page, either for actual lessons or for more theoretical guides to implementing aerospace education when designing curriculum. Then there’s the link to the National Coalition for Aviation Education (NCAE) page which has links to most of the organizations in education, from the Air Transport Association to Women in Aviation. The page lists contact information for these organizations, many of whom offer free materials for the classroom. Finally, the “Destinations of Interest†page should provide hours of surfing/browsing enjoyment.
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