Air Force One is a 400-ton airplane that is as long as a city block and as tall as a five-story building. Learn how planes fly by building and launching your own paper airplane.
Fold a white piece of paper into an airplane. On the wings of your plane, draw Presidential seals or American flags with red, white, and blue crayons, and pretend that your airplane is Air Force One. Use the strength in your arm to throw the plane, propelling it forward. The wind acts on the wings to lift your plane into the air.
Grades 5 to 8
Air Force One has become an important image of American government and American patriotism, much like the American flag, the bald eagle, and the Statue of Liberty.
Discuss how an airplane, a banner, a bird, and a statue come to represent a nation. What ideals or qualities of our country do they represent to us? To non-Americans? Do non-Americans associate other symbols with our nation? Do all have positive connotations?
What symbols represent other countries? What do they mean to us? To citizens of those nations?
Grades 9 to 12
Presidents have long used Air Force One as a political instrument, influencing leaders of other nations and of our own. Air Force One flew President John F. Kennedy to the frontlines of the Iron Curtain and President Richard Nixon into the heart of Communist China. Other Presidents have used rides on prestigious Air Force One to impress the media, members of Congress, and foreign dignitaries.
Discuss the ethics and logistics of using Air Force One, and other such tools, as a path to power. When could such practices be considered an abuse of power? Also, consider the fact that Air Force One is a military plane, the property and the responsibility of the U.S. Air Force. Does this have political ramifications?
