Wright Brothers
Academic Content Standards – Ohio – 4th Grade - History
Explain the importance of inventors such as the Wright Brothers, Charles Kettering, Garrett Morgan, Granville Woods and Thomas Edison.
Subject Headings/Keywords – Wright family, Wright, Wilber; Wright, Orville; Airplanes, Aeronautics
Dewey Decimal/Call Number – B, 629.13
Resources – Books about Orville and Wilbur Wright
629.13 Borden, Louise. Touching the sky: the flying adventures of Wilbur and Orville Wright. New York: Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2003. A look at how the Wright Brothers became the first celebrities of the twentieth century through their 1909 public flying exhibitions in New York City and Germany.
629.13 Buller, Jon. The Wright brothers take off. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 2003. In the form of a school report, introduces the Wright brothers and their quest to invent a flying machine.
629.12 Gaines, Ann. Orville and Wilbur Wright. Vero Beach, Fla.: Rourke Book, 2002. Provides a brief introduction to Orville and Wilbur Wright's efforts to build a plane that would fly.
629.13 Jenner, Caryn. First flight: the story of the Wright Brothers. New York : DK Publishing, 2003. Chronicles the Wright brothers' quest to make a successful flying machine, tracing their lifelong interest in flight and describing their business ventures, the death of their mother, and other important parts of their lives.
629.13 MacLeod, Elizabeth. The Wright brothers : a flying start. Tonawanda, N.Y.: Kids Can Press, 2002. Traces the path of the Wright brothers as they pursued their dream of changing the world of transportation.
629.1309 Masters, Nancy Robinson. The airplane. New York : F. Watts, 2004. The Wright brothers' first twelve seconds of flight set into motion a discovery that would change the world forever. This book explores the factors that led to the development of flight.
629.130092 Carson, Mary Kay. The Wright Brothers for kids: how they invented the airplane : 21 activities exploring the science and history of flight. Chicago, Ill.: Chicago Review Press, 2003. Facts about these brothers and their invention, plus projects.
B WRI Busby, Peter. First to fly : how Wilbur & Orville Wright invented the airplane. New York : Crown, 2002. A look at the lives of the Wright brothers, from their childhood interest in flight, through their study of successful gliders and other flying machines, to their triumphs at Kitty Hawk and beyond.
B WRI Ford, Carin T. The Wright brothers : heroes of flight. Berkeley Heights, NJ :Enslow Publishers, 2003. Profiles two brothers whose childhood interest in flight led them to build a successful flying machine.
B FRE Freedman, Russell. The Wright brothers : how they invented the airplane. Follows the lives of the Wright brothers and describes how they developed the first airplane. Newberry Honor winner.
B WRI Hudson, Margaret. The Wright Brothers. Des Plaines, Ill.: Heinemann Interactive Library, 1999. A simple introduction to the lives and work of the two brothers who invented the first engine-driven flying machine.
B WRI Joseph,Paul. The Wright Brothers. Minneapolis, MN: Abdo & Daughters, 1997. Sketches the lives of the two men responsible for the first flight of a machine powered aircraft on December 17, 1903, in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
B WRI Krensky, Stephen. Taking flight: the story of the Wright brothers. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2000. Describes how the Wright Brothers came to build and fly the first powered aircraft.
B WRI McPherson, Stephanie Sammartino. Wilbur & Orville Wright : taking flight. Minneapolis, MN : Carolrhoda Books, 2004. A biography of the brothers who, in 1903, made the first powered, controlled flight in an airplane.
B WRI Old, Wendie C. The Wright brothers: inventors of the airplane . Berkeley Heights, NJ : Enslow Publishers, 2000. Traces the path of the Wright brothers as they pursued their dream of changing the world of transportation.
B WRI Ryan, Bernard. The Wright Brothers: inventors of the airplane. Examines the lives of Orville and Wilbur Wright, discussing their family and early endeavors, and telling the story of how they pursued their dream of building a flying machine.
B WRI Santella, Andrew. The Wright Brothers: inventors and aviators. Chanhassen, Minn.: Child's World, 2003. Briefly describes the life and accomplishments of Orville and Wilbur Wright, aviation pioneers.
B WRI Sullivan, George. The Wright brothers. A biography of the brothers responsible for developing the first airplane, featuring excerpts from their journal entries, letters and drawings.
B WRI Wadsworth, Ginger. The Wright Brothers. Minneapolis : Lerner Publications Co., 2004. A biography of the two inventors whose 1903 powered, controlled flight of an airplane at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, made history.
B WRI Wyborny, Sheila. The Wright Brothers. Farmington, Hills, MI : Kidhaven Press, 2003. Profiles Orville and Wilbur Wright, beginning with their childhoods in the Midwest, covering their business enterprises, interest in aircraft, and successful flights, and ending with a look at their legacy.
Videos
B The Wright brothers. Wynnewood, PA : Schlessinger Media, 2001.. By exploring archival films, photographs and actual drawings and materials, students will learn of the Wright brothers, especially through reenactments. They had to test their ideas about flight before finally building their first powered airplane. Inventors of the World Series. VHS
Char Peanut The Wright brothers at Kitty Hawk. [Hollywood, Calif.]: Paramount, 1994. Charlie Brown and friends become eyewitnesses to history when they help the Wright Brothers send their primitive airplane aloft at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, in 1903.
W ANIM The Wright Brothers. Irving, Tex.: NEST Entertainment, 1996. Uses animation to dramatize the Wright brothers' development of the airplane and to explain some basic concepts of aerodynamics. Animated Heroes Classic Series. VHS
Websites about the Wright Brothers
The American Experience
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/wright/
Includes information about the Wright Brothers as well as video clips
Flights of Inspiration
http://www.fi.edu/flights/index.html
This website looks at the challenge of flight, from the Wright brothers' first flight to the transatlantic flight of Alcock and Brown.
Wright Brothers National Memorial
http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/109wrightnc/109wrightNC.htm
National Park Service website about the Wright Brothers and the site where flight began.
Databases
Britannica Elementary – Wright Brothers
Compton’s Encyclopedia – Wright Brothers