Great Electric Airplane Race [PBS NOVA]

Questions to accompany Great Electric Airplane Race, PBS NOVA season 48, episode 7. The video is available through PBS, iTunes, and Amazon Prime.

GREAT ELECTRIC AIRPLANE RACE (47 questions)

Can new emission-free electric planes replace our polluting airliners and revolutionize personal transportation in our cities? NOVA takes you for a ride in some impressive prototypes that are already in the air, from speedy single-seat planes that can take off like a helicopter but are half as noisy to “self-flying” air taxis that are already taking passengers on test flights in Chinese cities. But if electric airplanes are ever to advance beyond small, short-haul craft, significant hurdles of battery weight, energy storage, and cooling remain to be overcome. How long will it be before the dream of super-quiet, super-efficient airliners becomes a reality?

Participants include Kofi Asante, Joeben Bevirt, André Borschberg, Sean Clarke, Starr Ginn, Gordon Hardy, Neelakshi Hudda, Josef Kallo, Wendy Kraft, Sandy Lozito, Mark Moore, Michael Murphy, Brice Nzeukou, Miles O'Brien, Joseph Oldham, Justin Paines, Bertrand Piccard, Shivanjli Sharma, Sebastian Thrun, Terik Weekes, Edward Xu, and Susan Ying.

As your friendly Science Sommelier, I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that this episode pairs nicely with Chasing Carbon Zero (NOVA S50E06). That episode, itself, was paired with Weathering the Future (NOVA S50E05) when it premiered.

Lessons of Phyz advantages:

• A heavy font ensures high legibility even in dim lighting
• Questions are designed to be answered while the video plays—quick, simple responses keep students engaged without requiring deep reflection that would take them out of the presentation
• Question types are mixed: fill-in-the-blank, multiple choice, check lists, and short answer are common; in some cases, matching or list-making.
• Certain moments in a documentary merit undivided attention. No questions have been placed in those moments.
• "Play to the buzzer": Whenever possible, the last question in the set is answered during the last seconds of the video.
• I am a classroom teacher; these resources were designed to be used in my classroom.
• If you find competing products online, by all means check them out. They may be cheaper; they may be free. None of them will be as professional, polished, or classroom-ready as this one.

The Google Docs files provided in this product are suitable for use online for remote instruction and make-up work and/or for printing and photocopying for in-person instruction. They are ready to use whichever way you need to use them.