• Choose one of the scientists or inventors listed above and study their work with kites more fully. Prepare a report on the person and be sure to include photos or sketches.
• There are many persons who have made history using kites. Choose five of these names and research to find what contribution each made to the science of kiting. Peter Lynn, Eddy, Homan Walsh, Domina Jalbert, Eric Muhs, Samuel Cody, George Pocock, Fran Rogallo.
• Write a poem about kites. Make your poem in the shape of a kite with a tail. Be creative.
• What does the Bible teach about kites? Nothing? Think again. Use your Strong's Concordance to look up two verses about a bird called a kite. There are many verses that are about flying. There is a verse about witty inventions. Everything that man thinks he has learned on his own is explained in the Bible. Find five verses that relate to this study and copy them into your notebook.
• Draft a time line of kite history.
• Learn the definitions of the following terms: dihedral, lift, pitch, roll, yaw
• Plan a kite flying event. Choose a site with plenty of room away from power lines and trees. Send out kite shaped "flyers" inviting people to your kite flight. Ask them to bring picnic lunches and lawn chairs or quilts to sit on and, of course, kites. Present prizes or certificates for the highest flyer, the best controlled, the prettiest, the most fun, most unique, most complicated, largest, smallest, etc.
• Make a copy of the Beaufort Wind Chart that was devised in 1805 by Admiral Francis Beaufort of the British navy.
• Make a kite safety poster to put up at the public library or an elementary school in your town. Make it bright and easy to read and understand. Make your poster answer this question: When and where is it unsafe to fly a kite?

Flight Study Topics:
One of the least familiar styles to Americans is the Box kite. Understanding how this kite flies will help you to understand many of the physics behind how things fly. Usborne's Pocket Scientist Flight and Floating explains, through simple hands-on activities, the forces of flight.

• Study the control surfaces of a kite.
• Study the four flight forces—thrust, drag, weight, and lift
• Compare tethered flight to free flight.
• Compare Newtonian lift to Beroulli lift.
• Compare gliding to powered flight.
• What provides stability to a kite?

Kiting Ideas:
Choose a style or type of kite to build. Americans mainly know the Eddy Bow kite. Try making some mini-kites out of paper or leaves or some unusual materials

• A Chinese kite
• Try a huge nylon kite
• A kite made from a black trash bag
• A ladder kite
• Kites shaped like people or animals or cartoon characters
• Kites that advertise a local business (owner might be willing to finance the project)
• Kites within kites
• A box kite
• kites
• Triangular tetra kites
• Signaling kites
• Target kites
• Weather kite that supports an instrument
• Night kite lighted and/or made of reflective materials
• Kite made of nylon scarfs or an old used coat lining

What ideas for using kites can you come up with? Sketch kites in your notebook - different shapes, colors, sizes and designs. Describe what use the kites will be put to and how they will work.

Through the ages kites have provided more than amusement and entertainment for adults and children alike. They have been used by scientists, spies, sailors, meteorologists, explorers, messengers, inventors, researchers and even by artists.

Have some high-flying fun!

Elece Hollis is a freelance writer and stay-at-home mom. She and her husband Ron of 30 years have 7 children and are in their sixteenth year of homeschooling. They live east of Okmulgee, Oklahoma and south of Tulsa on a 40 acre pecan farm.

This Unit Study was originally published in the March/April issue of Home School Enrichment Magazine. For more information, visit http://HomeSchoolEnrichment.com