How It Started...
Our class has been investigating the Social Studies concept of how we move from one place to another within our community. The children began exploring this concept long before our “Airplane Exploration Project.” From the very beginning of the school year, the children have been building roads, garages and highways for their cars in the block area. We have also had many discussions centered around the Metra and CTA, because of our school’s location next to these two forms of transportation. Our Airplane Exploration was derived from these other types of explorations.
A week before February recess, many of the children were talking about how they were going to fly on an airplane over their break. Some children talked about how they were flying on a plane to go see family members like “Nana” and “Papa”, while others talked about flying on a plane “to go on vacation.” When the children returned from break, we had pictures of commercial aircrafts as reference photos in the art area for them to look at and re-create. Below are the pictures of several children’s airplane drawings. As we explored airplanes, the children became more knowledgeable of the various parts of an airplane and their drawings became more detailed and accurate.
Our class has been investigating the Social Studies concept of how we move from one place to another within our community. The children began exploring this concept long before our “Airplane Exploration Project.” From the very beginning of the school year, the children have been building roads, garages and highways for their cars in the block area. We have also had many discussions centered around the Metra and CTA, because of our school’s location next to these two forms of transportation. Our Airplane Exploration was derived from these other types of explorations.
A week before February recess, many of the children were talking about how they were going to fly on an airplane over their break. Some children talked about how they were flying on a plane to go see family members like “Nana” and “Papa”, while others talked about flying on a plane “to go on vacation.” When the children returned from break, we had pictures of commercial aircrafts as reference photos in the art area for them to look at and re-create. Below are the pictures of several children’s airplane drawings. As we explored airplanes, the children became more knowledgeable of the various parts of an airplane and their drawings became more detailed and accurate.
Simultaneously, the children were building airports in the block area for their airplane drawings. There were many discussions about how many runways the airport should have, where the control tower should be located and which airplanes could take off and land. To help guide these types of discussions, we watched several YouTube videos of planes landing and taking off and referred to several reference photos of aerial views of O’Hare and Midway airports. Creating a Plan…. After several weeks of drawing airplanes and block play centered around airports, the children decided to convert the dramatic play area into the inside of an airplane. They wanted to start the transformation IMMEDIATELY. However, we FIRST had to make a plan. By creating a plan, the children were able to discuss how they wanted to approach the project in a purposeful and meaningful way. First, each of the children made a “blueprint” of the inside of a plane using images of commercial plane interiors gathered from the internet and books. No child’s blueprint was exactly the same, but overall many of the children’s blueprints included a “cockpit”, “seats”, “aisles” and “windows”. Some of the children’s blueprints even included a flight attendant pushing a “food cart” down the aisle of the plane. |
The following day at Morning Meeting, we displayed each of the children’s blueprints on the blue rug for the children to look at during Morning Meeting. As a class, we discussed what we noticed in each of children’s blueprints and how we could use the blueprints to help guide us in laying out our classroom airplane. The children determined that we needed “seats”, “a cockpit”, “an aisle”, and “a food cart”. We next brainstormed what things in the dramatic play area could be incorporated in the Airplane Exploration, what things needed to be removed and what things needed to be added. As Ms. Bell pointed to each item in the dramatic area, the children determined whether it should “stay” or “go.” For example, the children determined that our “quiet space” could be donated to the Pre K room for their submarine. During this process, the children noticed that we were going to need more chairs for "seats" and a wagon to represent a "food cart."
Determining where things needed to be moved required the children to work collaboratively as a class both cognitively and physically. There was one moment in particular that I remember watching as two children worked to move the wardrobe dresser from one area of the classroom to the other. They had to navigate around tables, chairs and children. While some things got “bumped” they did not become discouraged, they would stop assess the situation and try again. When they got the wardrobe dresser to its intended destination, they both commented that it was “hard work”, but from the proud looks on their faces they felt accomplished!
Determining where things needed to be moved required the children to work collaboratively as a class both cognitively and physically. There was one moment in particular that I remember watching as two children worked to move the wardrobe dresser from one area of the classroom to the other. They had to navigate around tables, chairs and children. While some things got “bumped” they did not become discouraged, they would stop assess the situation and try again. When they got the wardrobe dresser to its intended destination, they both commented that it was “hard work”, but from the proud looks on their faces they felt accomplished!
After completing this step, we were FINALLY ready to start building our airplane!
| Making the Cockpit…. As a class, we decided to use a white box graciously donated by a parent as the base of our cockpit. Some children drew a “blueprint” of how OUR cockpit should be constructed based on several reference photos of different commercial airplane cockpits. From these drawings we decided we needed “buttons”, “steering wheels” and “computer screens”. The children decided we needed a button to go “up”, “down”, “to land”, “break”, turn “on” and turn “off.” The children found a bucket of bottle caps and shirt buttons in the TinkerLab that they wanted to use to represent the airplane buttons. With some teacher assistance, the children also labeled each of the buttons they glued onto the cockpit. |
Together, the children and I learned about how pilots use “radar”, “computer screen display” and “primary display systems” to help fly their plane. The children noticed how all of the computer screens were of a rectangular shape, which would require a material from the TinkerLab that they could be manipulated into that shape. After looking at several different types of materials they decided to using some stacking cubes and connectors to create the different types of computer displays. They then cut out still images of the different systems and taped them to the back of the stacking cubes. From there, the children decided to use wires and hanging hooks to hang the systems onto the cockpit wall. In order to distinguish the different displays from one another, the children wrote labels for each system.
Making the Side of the Airplane….
We used the white wall of our classroom as one side wall of the airplane and another white box to construct other side wall of the plane. As a class we voted on what colors we wanted to paint the outside of our airplane and how many windows our plane should have. With Ms. Holdridge’s assistance, the children decided the plane should have three windows and be painted orange, blue and red.
The children first did a mockup to figure out where and how much of each paint color should be used on the side of the plane. The children then used the mock-up to guide them in painting the outside wall of the plane. One color of paint was applied per day. The children also used paper and painter’s tape to keep the paint colors from running into one another.
Making the Side of the Airplane….
We used the white wall of our classroom as one side wall of the airplane and another white box to construct other side wall of the plane. As a class we voted on what colors we wanted to paint the outside of our airplane and how many windows our plane should have. With Ms. Holdridge’s assistance, the children decided the plane should have three windows and be painted orange, blue and red.
The children first did a mockup to figure out where and how much of each paint color should be used on the side of the plane. The children then used the mock-up to guide them in painting the outside wall of the plane. One color of paint was applied per day. The children also used paper and painter’s tape to keep the paint colors from running into one another.
Once we were done painting the airplane, we talked about how our plane needed a name. The children provided a lot of wonderful names like “The Chicago Airplane”, “United Mexico Airline”, “JK Green United States Airline” and “The Commercial Airline”, but our top two choices were JK Airlines and United States Airlines. At one of our Morning Meetings, we asked each child which name they would prefer. We tallied the totals on the board and United States Airlines was established. |
| The Interior of our Plane…. The children determined, based on trial and error, that there was enough room for three rows of chairs, two chairs per row with an aisle down the middle. The children used rubber flooring to further distinguish the aisle from the rest of the flooring. For seat belts, the children used laminated paper and velcro. The children noticed as they were playing that one-size did NOT fit all. With Ms. Bell’s assistance the children used a tape measure to determine how they could compensate for each child’s waistline. The children determined that the laminated paper needed to be large enough to fit around the largest waist but also have an option for children with smaller waistlines. The children determined to put a larger and smaller velcro option on the laminated paper to accommodate larger and smaller waistlines. |
Flying on United States Airlines….
At the completion of this project, the JK children invited the SK and Pre-K class to fly United States Airlines! To prepare for the SK and Pre-K classes visit, we made boarding passes for each SK and Pre-K student that determined where and when they were flying on United States Airlines. The JK students also took turns being either a pilot or Flight Attendant. On the actual day the classes came to visit, the JK students were so excited. Tickets were collected and SK and Pre K children students were shown to their seats. Comments like "Welcome to United States Airlines" and "Please fasten your seat belts for take off" filled the room. SK and Pre K students were served in-flight beverages and food. JK students reminded them to "Stay seated in case of turbulence." Once the pilots determined they had reached their pre-determined destination, the SK and Pre K students were escorted off and thanked "For flying with United States Airlines."
It was amazing to see how much they had learned throughout this project not just about airplanes, but how to plan and implement a "big" project as an entire class. Ms. Bell, Ms. Holdridge and I are excited to see what JK will choose to do next!
At the completion of this project, the JK children invited the SK and Pre-K class to fly United States Airlines! To prepare for the SK and Pre-K classes visit, we made boarding passes for each SK and Pre-K student that determined where and when they were flying on United States Airlines. The JK students also took turns being either a pilot or Flight Attendant. On the actual day the classes came to visit, the JK students were so excited. Tickets were collected and SK and Pre K children students were shown to their seats. Comments like "Welcome to United States Airlines" and "Please fasten your seat belts for take off" filled the room. SK and Pre K students were served in-flight beverages and food. JK students reminded them to "Stay seated in case of turbulence." Once the pilots determined they had reached their pre-determined destination, the SK and Pre K students were escorted off and thanked "For flying with United States Airlines."
It was amazing to see how much they had learned throughout this project not just about airplanes, but how to plan and implement a "big" project as an entire class. Ms. Bell, Ms. Holdridge and I are excited to see what JK will choose to do next!