October Sky Lesson Plans
Directions:
Lesson will take 2 days to complete
During the video that students will fill-in the answers to the questions for during the video.
The movie will:
1. To enhance students' understanding of historical periods other than their own
2. To encourage scientific inquiry and promote interest in the history of space technology
Objective:
Students will be able to evaluate and apply the concepts of both the importance of math and science and
the relationship in creating a rocket by viewing visual media to gather data and draw conclusions.
Before Watching the Movie:
Discuss the following with the class
The following will greatly enhance a child's understanding and appreciation of this movie:
From 1946 to 1991, the U.S. was locked in a Cold War with Russian Communism. The Soviets
claimed that Communism was the wave of the future and that it would bury capitalism,
democracy, and the United States. Russia and Communism were a serious threat to the U.S.
and the Western democracies.
In the 1950s, the United States believed that its technology was the best in the world. We had
more cars than any country in the world. We had the best televisions, refrigerators, record
players and a host of other consumer goods. At that time U.S. factories were building these
products. Japan was still recovering from WW II and China was still undeveloped. We had
been first with the atomic bomb and first with the hydrogen bomb. Our airplanes and jet
fighters were the best in the world. We thought that our military equipment was better than the
Russians'. Americans took comfort in the belief that we had the best scientists and engineers
that ever lived.
The belief in American technical superiority changed in 1958. Sputnik was the first man-made
satellite to orbit the earth. It was sent up, not by the Americans, but by the Russians.
Americans looked up to see a Communist star traversing the heavens and realized that in the
important arena of space, our technology was inferior to that of the Russians. People worried
about what would happen if the Russians put an atomic bomb on one of their satellites. This
insecurity deepened as the first several U.S. efforts to orbit a satellite failed miserably. Rockets
exploded on the launch pads or they crashed soon after lift-off. All of this occurred live on
world-wide television. It was more than embarrassing. It was frightening.
For years, the Soviets led the space race, hoisting larger payloads into space than the U.S.,
including the first animal in space and the first man in space. All of this occurred during one of
the most distrustful and competitive periods of the Cold War. The launch of Sputnik shook the
United States to its roots.
"October Sky" shows one boy's reaction to this event. The story told by this movie is pretty
much true.
The movie takes place in a coal town in West Virginia. Coal towns existed for the sole purpose
of mining coal. Everything in the town was owned by the coal company: the stores, the church,
the schools and the houses in which the miners lived. If a miner was incapacitated and could
no longer work, his family was forced to move out of their company owned house, which meant
leaving town. Often, when the father was injured, the children had to work in the mines to pay
the rent and remain eligible to live in company owned housing. If a miner died in the mines, his
family had a very short time (usually two weeks) to move. The coal company didn't want the
grim reminders of the dangers of the mine to be around too long. Coalwood, where Homer
lived, was one of the better company towns, but it was still subject to harsh practices by the
mine owners.
In a mine, coal dust pollutes the air and literally covers everything. A common ailment among
miners is black lung disease (pneumoconiosis) caused by inhaling coal dust. Homer's father
was suffering from this disease. The mine owners refused to compensate miners for this
occupational hazard, so the Federal Government stepped in and set up a health and worker's
compensation plan for the miners.
During the Movie: Name: _______________________________ Session #___
1. What country launched the world's first man-made satellite, Sputnik, into Earth orbit on October 4,
1957?
2. Because Sputnik travels at 18,000 mph, it can make an orbit of Earth every ___ minutes.
3. Satellites passing overhead are visible in a clear dark sky one hour after ________ and one hour before
________.
4. Sputnik travels at a height of ______ miles above the Earth.
5. Describe what Sputnik looked like passing through the sky:
6. What did Homer use as the fuel for his first rocket?
7. What happened to the Vanguard rocket launched by Dr. Werhner Von Braun?
8. Rocketry was invented by the ____________, as early as 1000 AD.
9. Homer learns about potassium chlorate and sulfur to use as ________ for his rockets.
10. What is Homer’s motivation for building these rockets?
11. The purpose of the nozzle in a rocket is to direct the flow of _____________.
12. Miss Riley says, "Science requires __________."
13. What do the boys build at Cape Coalwood to use for launching rockets?
14. When potassium chlorate and sugar are combined with heat, oxygen and expanding gases are
produced, making an effective rocket ____________.
15. What lab safety equipment do the students use in the classroom?
16. When the rockets exploded, heat from the exhaust was melting the ___________.
17. When rocket fuel combusts, the nozzle directs a hot river of gas that reaches the speed of
____________.
18. If the mass of the propellant compared to the mass of the rocket is too little, increase the
____________ of the rocket.
19. The properties of alcohol are that it is stable and dilutes ____________.
20. What measurement do the rocket boys make during the rocket flights to calculate the height of the
rocket?
21. Who told Homer at the national science fair "Congratulations and good luck"?
22. What happened to Miss Riley during the science fair?
23. What career did Homer end up having?
During the Movie: Name: _______________________________ Session #___
1. What country launched the world's first man-made satellite, Sputnik, into Earth orbit on October 4,
1957?
2. Because Sputnik travels at 18,000 mph, it can make an orbit of Earth every ___ minutes.
3. Satellites passing overhead are visible in a clear dark sky one hour after ________ and one hour before
________.
4. Sputnik travels at a height of ______ miles above the Earth.
5. Describe what Sputnik looked like passing through the sky:
6. What did Homer use as the fuel for his first rocket?
7. What happened to the Vanguard rocket launched by Dr. Werhner Von Braun?
8. Rocketry was invented by the ____________, as early as 1000 AD.
9. Homer learns about potassium chlorate and sulfur to use as ________ for his rockets.
10. What is Homer’s motivation for building these rockets?
11. The purpose of the nozzle in a rocket is to direct the flow of _____________.
12. Miss Riley says, "Science requires __________."
13. What do the boys build at Cape Coalwood to use for launching rockets?
14. When potassium chlorate and sugar are combined with heat, oxygen and expanding gases are
produced, making an effective rocket ____________.
15. What lab safety equipment do the students use in the classroom?
16. When the rockets exploded, heat from the exhaust was melting the ___________.
17. When rocket fuel combusts, the nozzle directs a hot river of gas that reaches the speed of
____________.
18. If the mass of the propellant compared to the mass of the rocket is too little, increase the
____________ of the rocket.
19. The properties of alcohol are that it is stable and dilutes ____________.
20. What measurement do the rocket boys make during the rocket flights to calculate the height of the
rocket?
21. Who told Homer at the national science fair "Congratulations and good luck"?
22. What happened to Miss Riley during the science fair?
23. What career did Homer end up having?
After Watching the Movie:
Discussion questions
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Which of the characters did you relate to the most? Which characters did you like? Which characters did you not like? Why?
Homer's friends, the "rocket boys," were at first skeptical of Homer's interest in rockets. However, they quickly came to
encourage his dream. Do we tend to encourage or discourage the dreams of our friends and peers? Why?
In the 1950s, Homer's dream was considered far-fetched. Space exploration was only a thing of comic books and a few
movies. Do you know anyone who has a "far fetched" dream today? Maybe it is you! What is your dream, your vision for
your future?
Homer's dad is well respected by the miners. At one point, his father says to Homer, "I was born for this (working in the
mines)." Do you believe that? Does God call us to certain occupations by giving us certain gifts and talents that we are "born
with" and which lead to certain careers? Do you have friends who have certain talents and gifts, which make you say that
they would be good teachers, mathematicians, social workers, lawyers, doctors, or whatever? What gifts have people
identified in you?
At the end of the movie, Homer and the rocket boys launch one final rocket in honor of the mentors in their lives. If you were
firing a rocket in honor of the mentors in your life, who would those mentors be? Why? How could you be a mentor to your
siblings or your friends?