Penn Delco School District

Penn Delco School District

Elementary Gifted Program - Seminar

Third Grade

Learning from the Past; Flying into the Future

Unit Outline

1.  Medieval Times (approx. 20 weeks)

A.  Students will study and learn about some of the events and lifestyles recorded during Medieval Europe between 500 AD - 1500 A. D.

B.  Students will be required to produce three independent home projects. One project with several options will involve research on a medieval topic. This project will be presented during a culminating feast. Students will create life-size medieval characters and write a fictional or factual story about their lives.

C.  Students will participate in numerous individual and small group in-class projects/activities. Some class activities may include: calligraphy, illuminations, heraldry, weaving, soap making, metal tooling, and the game of chess.

D.  Two special events include: a medieval tournament and a presentation feast & knighting ceremony. The feast will include student costumes, food, project displays, and student research presentations.

Field Trip Options: Philadelphia Museum of Art – Medieval Lesson and

Middletown Archery Lesson

2.  Flight/ Rocketry (approx. 12 weeks)

A.  Students will learn about the history and principles of flight and rocketry. Students will experiment through hands-on activities covering different aspects of flight. Areas of flight may include: helicopters, airplanes, gliders, rockets, hot air balloons, butterflies, or birds.

B.  Weather permitting students will raise monarch butterflies for release in June. Students will participate in designing and creating a butterfly garden as part of Pennell’s Outdoor classroom.

C.  Following flight trials in the gym, students will compare, measure, graph, and discuss their results.

D.  Each student will produce a flight related research project that incorporates written, visual, and oral components.

E.  (Optional) Students will construct and fly balsa wood gliders with local model flight experts.

Field Trip Options: Brandywine Airport, American Helicopter Museum, Brookhaven Community Gym for flight experiments (This year both trips will take place during the Medieval unit. Upon approval)