October+Sky

Teach with Movies has the best presentation of the movie. Link is below.

SUBJECTS — Space Exploration; U.S./1945-1991 & West Virginia; Science, & Technology; SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL LEARNING — Parenting;Father/Son; Mother/Son; Breaking Out; Friendship; MORAL-ETHICAL EMPHASIS — Responsibility; Caring. Age: 10+; MPAA Rating -- PG for language, brief teen sensuality and hinted alcohol use, and for some thematic elements; Drama; 1999 Source: http://www.teachwithmovies.org/guides/october-sky.html


 * OUR WORD TO PARENTS:**Here's a quick summary of the content found in this PG-rated film. Profanity is mild for the use of 2 "s" words, a variety of others, as well as some religious and otherwise colorful phrases. A brief sexually related comment is made, one of the boys gives a demonstration of how to feel a girl's breast during a movie (using another guy), and we see a boy and girl together in a parked car where nothing but talking occurs (although the windows are steamed up). A very brief scene suggests that the boys have partaken in some moonshine.

For those concerned with their kids imitating what they see, this movie's rocket building and testing, as well as the "borrowing" of materials for that may spur some kids to do the same. Some bad attitudes abound -- particularly concerning John's behavior toward Homer and his dreams -- and some thematic elements (including one of the boy's having an abusive and alcoholic stepfather, as well as that of several coal mining accidents, one resulting in a miner who's killed) may be a bit heavy for younger viewers.

Beyond that, however, the rest of the film's categories have little or no major objectionable content. Source http://www.screenit.com/movies/1999/october_sky.html

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. ====

====**Benefits of the Movie: ** This film can be used to illustrate an important event in American history, the launch by Soviet Russia of the first space satellite. It can spark or enhance an interest in space science, engineering, or math. It can inspire children to work hard to fulfill their dreams. //October Sky// demonstrates the rewards of working toward a goal against daunting odds. The movie shows the positive influence teachers can have on their students, a mother's support for her child's dreams, the love of a son for his father and his need for his father's approval, as well as the value of people who are different from most of us. The fact that the film is based on a true story adds emphasis to these lessons. ====

====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. ====

====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. ====

====It was very unusual for any boys from Homer's home town to go to college, other than on a sports scholarship. However, each of the Rocket Boys graduated from college and Homer Hickam fulfilled his dream by becoming an engineer for NASA. ====

====The U.S. eventually pulled equal to the Russians in the space race and was victorious in the Cold War. Russia abandoned Communism in 1991 and has adopted a capitalist model. It is no longer a super power that competes with the U.S. Space exploration is now a cooperative international effort. The Russians are making money by charging very rich people (often Americans) millions of dollars for a trip into space in a Russian space capsule. ====

Vanguard was four feet off the pad. Thrust
====ceased, it crumpled and then exploded. Homer Hickam's book, __The Rocket Boys__, is better than the movie and contains a number of wonderful vignettes that are not in the film. For example, as the boys built more complex rockets, Homer realized that they needed to learn calculus to take the next steps in rocket design. Homer and the science teacher convinced the principal of the high school to offer a new course in calculus. The enrollment was limited to six people, the exact number of boys involved in the effort to make the rockets. No one expected anyone else at the school to sign up for the class. ====

====<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif;">However, the girl that Homer had a crush on signed up too, and since Homer's grades in math were the worst of any of the applicants, he was excluded from the class. The principal at this point was not sure that the Rocket Boys were really up to any good and called them "bombers," a reference to their first effort which had blown up Homer's mother's fence. The principal would not increase the enrollment in the class by one person to allow Homer to take it. Initially, Homer felt that his dreams of a career in rocketry were over, but in the depths of his depression, he found a calculus text on the bookshelf at home. There were notes in the book in his father's handwriting showing that his father, who had never gone to college but who was called upon to supervise engineers, had taught himself calculus. Homer began to study the text and the other members of the club helped him. Homer learned calculus without the class, to his own amazement and that of his teachers and the principal. ====

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?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">During the Movie: Name: ___ Session #___ **

**<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif;">Discussion questions **

 * ====<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif;">Which of the characters did you relate to the most? Which characters did you like? Which characters did you not like? Why? ====
 * ====<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif;">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? ====
 * ====<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif;">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? ====
 * ====<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif;">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? 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? ====
 * ====<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif;">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? ====