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Show Ah Look J(r Interactive Web site includes developmental games, history or Force Galbraith listen in on Air by Mary Hilltop Times staff A Galaxy can carry 1,200,000 quarter-phamburgers. Air Force One has room for 102 people. In 1924, the enough first flight around the world took 1 75 days. These are just a few facts kids learn on Air Force link Jr., an interactive Air Force web site aimed at children between ages The site includes games that develop reading, spelling and math skills. 'There's everything from basic reasoning through language and vocabulary building games. Additionally, there's information available to tell young Americans about the Air Force how it works and its heritage," said Capt. Brian Hubbard, chief of TechC--5 ound 6-1- 2. nology Integration at Air Force Public Affairs, Washington D.C. "There's a history section that tells the Air Force story that I think any airman would be proud of." The site was launched in October 1997 and went through a major revision in Decem- ber 1998. Forty thousand junior visitors log on each week. It's maintained, and was built, using volunteers, interns and sum- mer hires to minimize costtotheAir Force. Currently there are plans to update this M. Air Force Link Jr. has been well received by its target audience, according to Hub- bard. " Children like its interactivity. The site was developed using children as a focus group and they had a large input on what it looks like and how it works. Some of the most popular sections are the new word search game, the coloring book and connect the dots," said Hubbard. Air Force Link Jr. is divided into six separate areas: New Games, Air Field, Game Room, the Media Lab, Post Office and a special section with computer screen savers and wallpaper available for downloading. The Air Field has steps carefully diagramed that teach children what makes a plane fly and basic maneuvers. Game Room activities include a math mission where kids "travel" into outer space on the shuttle, using math to complete mission goals. Captain Zoom takes on an educationally packed adventure developing math and reasoning ability. The coloring book allows children to color a variety of planes using creativity. Connect the dots develops counting skills while the uniform game helps children pick correct (or silly) military attire for Captain Zoom. In the Media Lab kids can see pictures,' video clips or read up on how the Air Force helped transport Keiko the killer whale (of "Free Wiley" fame), look at other stories co-pilo- Site details flight e-m-ail Eight-year-ol- d Johnathon Edwards, son of Tony and SrA Delma Edwards, said he liked the site. "It helps kids out because it's hard to learn spelling . And it helps with counting because it would make it more fun if they do it while they're making apicture during the dotto dot game. Then if you don't like the picture in the coloring book game you can go to a different one," said Johnathon. He said the sounds were good, pictures were cool and instructions helped him easily navigate the site. Johnathon's favorite game was math mission because he got to travel on the space shuttle. He recommends other children surf the V site, "So they can learn about the Air Force." And because it, "Helped me with math and Photos by stuff." Devin Peterson son of MSgt Joy Fowlkes and MSgt Alonzo Peterson, likes the site too and plans to let friends know how much fun it is. "I liked the games. There were two of them I really liked math mission and uniform. You got to dress up that person in a uniform and that made it fun ," said Devin whose mom also enjoyed the site. "We both had a good time looking at it," said Fowlkes. "He enjoyed the games. They kept his interest. I was surprised he liked the Air Force story even though he's not really old enough to understand everything. When I read it to him he thought it was interesting." Information on the site is set up creatively to engage children with text, photos, graphics and sounds. Air Force Who is Keiko? Wt&rft 6-1- W7 About the flight it Video & Audio Photo Gallery r9 age-appropria- Mary Galbraith Devin Peterson looks up information on how the Air Force assisted Keiko, the killer whale of "Free Willy" fame, reach his new aquatic home. Si. News LETS IGOl 2 ferent education and interest levels engaged and Devin reminds everyone, " Kids will think it's great because it has fun games and the Air Force story." Parents can feel comfortable allowing children to spend time using the site because material is educational and Air Force link Jr. is also guarded with the same security Air Force Link (Sr.) receives. To check out Air Force Link Jr., go to: S 1& h he going? Link Jr. was designed to be very child friendly with pictures and other visuals to illustrate concepts. "Some of the word search games were hard for him, but it's for so not everyfor said can Fowlkes. be thing every age," "It was really good though and we both enjoyed it." Variety keeps children at dif- "i JX V Johnathon Edwards works in the word search section of the game room. His favorite game on Air Force Link Jr. was the math mission because he got to the shuttle. space te. co-pil- ot ww.af.milaflinkjrjr.htm. Included in Air Force Link Jr. is a section titled Flight School where children can learn basic elements and maneuvers offlight. Below, are some excerpts from the site. The movement of air around an airplane's wings is one of the key elements to what gives an airplane flight. When you fly, the air that moves over top of the wings pushes the airplane down while the air that moves under the wings pushes up. If the air below the wings pushes more than the air on top, the plane will rise. That effect is called lift PITCH ts radio and patriotic songs. At the Post Office children send electronic Air Force post cards via to friends and family with a message. . While lift causes a plane to go up, weight makes a plane go down. Weight is the amount of force that gravity applies to something. If you have ever thrown something into the air, you know that it takes more force to make heavy object go higher into the sky than light objects. So far we've learned that lift makes a plane go up and weight makes it go down, but what makes an airplane go forward? The force that makes an airplane move forward is called thrust . Thrust is usually provided by an engine or propellers. -- balWhen air escapes from a blown-uloon, that is an example of thrust. Just like lift and weight are opposites, thrust has an opposite too. The opposite of thrust is called drag . Drag is air that pushes against the airplane while it is trying to move forward. When you walk against the wind, the force that tries to push you backwards is an example of drag With all the forces working together, an airplane can perform some pretty cool maneuvers. The first of these maneuvers p is roll . Roll is the rotation of the airplane's wings around the center of the plane. To achieve roll, the ailerons on an airplane's wing must be in opposite positions. The result makes a plane tilt left, right, or spin. Our second maneuver is pitch . Pitch is how much the airplane's nose points up or down. Like roll, pitch is also controlled by a plane's ailerons. For pitch though, both ailerons must be in either the up or down position at the same time. The last of the airpiane's three maneuvers is yaw . Yaw is how much the nose of an airplane points left or right while the plane is in motion. It can be achieved by turning the rudder of an airplane to the left or right. Pilots use yaw when they need to the fly to the left, right, and even when they're keeping straight. |