Space Shuttle Discovery DC Fly-Over

The Space Shuttle program was the United States government's manned launch vehicle program from 1981 to 2011, administered by NASA and officially beginning in 1972. The Space Shuttle system—composed of an orbiter launched with two reusable solid rocket boosters and a disposable external fuel tank— carried up to eight astronauts and up to 50,000 lb (23,000 kg) of payload into low Earth orbit (LEO). When its mission was complete, the orbiter would re-enter the Earth's atmosphere and lands as a glider. Although the concept had been explored since the late 1960s, the program formally commenced in 1972 and was the focus of NASA's manned operations after the final Apollo and Skylab flights in the mid-1970s. It started with the launch of the first shuttle Columbia on April 12, 1981, on STS-1. and finished with its last mission, STS-135 flown by Atlantis, in July 2011.

In the second grade, the student will examine the lives of notable Americans who expanded peoples’ rights and freedoms in the American system of government. Students participate in shared and individual research using biographies and informational text historic examples of honesty, courage, patriotism, self-sacrifice, and other admirable character traits seen in citizens and leaders including Abigail Adams, Francis Scott Key, Harriet Tubman, Abraham Lincoln, Chief Joseph, Eleanor Roosevelt, Fred Korematsu, Jackie Robinson, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, César Chávez, and Senator Daniel Inouye. Students analyze the significance of historic places including the White House, the United States Capitol, the United States Supreme Court, the Washington Monument, and The Lincoln Memorial. Students commemorate months designated to the contributions the American nation of significant groups to the history of including National Hispanic History Month, Native American Heritage Month, Black History Month, Women’s History Month, and Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month. Students understand chronological sequencing and the connection between historic events and individuals through the creation of basic timelines.