What to Expect
Designed for students grades 9-12 to explore and investigate primary sources to help understand the events that took place aboard Flight 93. Rangers will share resource information and challenge students to use their critical and analytical thinking skills.
Preparation
In anticipation for Wednesday, September 11th, participants are encouraged to review the educational materials related to Flight 93 to get the most out of the tour. These materials are designed to assist educators overcome the complex challengers that come with teaching the events of 9/11 to all ages. The following materials are strongly encouraged to review before watching the Virtual Tour.
- Share the Story of Flight 93 which will help students understand why the Memorial was established
- Explore some of the features within the Memorial
- Learn more about the each of the forty crew and passengers from Flight 93
Activity Opportunities
There are a variety of approaches to implement students to complete their own investigations into the primary sources from Flight 93.
Option 1: Divide students into three groups. Each group will analyze one of the three primary source materials:
After analyzing each document, regroup and facilitate a conversation based on the questions asked during the program, including the following central question:
- What do you believe happened on Flight 93 the morning of September 11, 2001?
Option 2: Provide all sets of primary source documents for all students to analyze. Have students write a summary report on what they learned from their research.
Option 3: Have students watch Be the Next Hero: The Investigation of United Flight 93, a video from the FBI, which focuses on employees at the Pittsburgh FBI and their response to the hijacking, crash and investigation of Flight 93. Have students write a summary report about what they learned from both videos.
Alternative Opportunities:
Students across the nation have the opportunity to “Write to Remember”, a collaboration with the National Writing Project. This activity allows students to share writing in response to prompts about Flight 93 and September 11th. Assign students one of the writing prompts for a post-video activity.