Earhart Math Facts

Earhart by her plane
Public domain photo from wpclipart.com

On June 18, 1928 Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean. Her plane took off on June 17 from Trepassy, Newfoundland. She rode as a passenger with co-pilots Wilmer "Bill" Stultz and Louis "Slim" Gordon, landing safely in Burry Port, Wales. The team left Trepassey harbor, Newfoundland, in a Fokker F7 named Friendship and arrived at Burry Port, Wales, 20 hours and 40 minutes later. Their landmark flight made headlines worldwide. In fact, three women had died within the year trying to be that first woman. When the crew returned to the United States, they were welcomed with a ticker-tape parade in New York and a reception held by President Calvin Coolidge at the White House. Less than four years later, Earhart would fly across the Atlantic alone.

Amelia Mary Earhart was born July 24, 1897, in Atchison, Kansas, to Samuel "Edwin" Stanton and Amelia (Otis) Earhart. She was a healthy nine pound baby. She and her younger sister, Grace Muriel, lived in the fine Gothic home of her grandparents, built by her grandfather. As a young child, Amelia enjoyed watching airplane stunt shows. Her mother, before her marriage, had been the first woman to reach the summit of Pikes Peak. Little could she guess that her daughter Amelia would also grow up to be a woman of "firsts." See more photos and images of Amelia Earhart at http://www.wpclipart.com.

Interesting facts about Amelia Earhart:

• In spite of having to attend six different high schools, she was able to graduate on time.
• Amelia saved enough money to buy her own plane, which she named Canary, because it was bright yellow.
• She was the 16th woman to receive a pilot's license from the FAI (License No. 6017).
• Earhart was called "Lady Lindy" because her slim build and facial features resembled that of Charles Lindbergh. 
• Earhart refused to wear typical flying gear. She wore a suit or dress instead of the "aviation togs" and a close-fitting hat instead of a helmet. 
• Earhart made such an impression that people often wrote and told her about naming babies, lakes and even homing pigeons "Amelia."
• She became friends with Eleanor Roosevelt, who wanted to learn how to fly. 
• Earhart met Orville Wright at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia in 1937, the same year she disappeared.
• She was the first woman be awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.
• The United States government spent $4 million looking for Earhart, which made it the most costly and intensive air and sea search in history at that time.

Amelia Earhart

On May 20, 1932, five years to the day after Lindbergh, she took off from Harbor Grace, Newfoundland, to Paris. Strong north winds, icy conditions and mechanical problems disrupted the flight and forced her to land in a pasture near Londonderry, Ireland. "After scaring most of the cows in the neighborhood," she said, "I pulled up in a farmer's back yard." As word of her flight spread, the media surrounded her, both overseas and in the United States.

President Herbert Hoover presented Earhart with a gold medal from the National Geographic Society. Congress awarded her the Distinguished Flying Cross—the first ever given to a woman. At the ceremony, Vice President Charles Curtis praised her courage, saying she displayed "heroic courage and skill as a navigator at the risk of her life." She set many other records and wrote best-selling books about her flying experiences before she disappeared in 1937 in the South Pacific during her attempt to become the first pilot to fly around the world at the equator. Read more at AmeliaEarhart.com.

In Excel Math, we help students learn to calculate distance and speed plus teach them higher-order thinking skills. We also combine math with literacy and teach students to read maps drawn to scale. Here's an example from our Grade 4 Excel Math Student Sheet from Lesson 121:

Excel Math Lesson 121 Student Worksheet 

Learn more about Excel Math lessons and its unique Spiraling process. With this strategically constructed process, concepts stay in front of students and repeat throughout the year in a methodical way. No other curriculum achieves the comprehensive, repetitive practice of Excel Math. Perhaps that's why the glowing reports from teachers and principals keep rolling in. Here's what one teacher had to say after using Excel Math:

“I cannot express how impressed I am with your program. Our test results are outstanding, and I am convinced without EXCEL we would be struggling to meet our goals. The spiraling piece that is built in…is what makes this so effective. If I ever move schools and my district does not provide this program, I would purchase it with my own money. Thank you for a wonderful program.”

— Anna Russell, Teacher, San Juan, California

Read more Excel Math success stories.

Read more about Amelia  Earhart and watch a video of the Blue Angels in flight at wonderopolis.com.