Toronto's Premier AIR & SPACE Attraction
Home of the AVRO Arrow Full Scale Metal Replica
Student Learning Takes Flight At The
Canadian Air & Space Museum
At the Canadian Air & Space Museum, student tours are aligned with Ontario Ministry of Education and Training curricula at all grade levels. Tours can be "tailored" to the needs of each group. Please let us know your specific needs.
Using actual aircraft, guides help students to learn about the Science of Flight, Aircraft Manufacturing, Aviation Technology and the History of Canadian Aviation in an historic aircraft factory.
Our displays of aircraft and artifacts include a workshop display of the
machinery that was used to make the first aircraft in Toronto (1915), flight
simulators, the wooden cockpit mock-up for the Bombardier de Havilland
Q400 Dash 8 airliner, jet and radial engines,
Father Goose Bill
Lishman's ultralight aircraft, a biplane, a record setting sailplane, Chris Heinz's
prototype Zenair kit aircraft, a Royal Canadian Navy Grumman / de Havilland
CS-2F2 Tracker ship-borne submarine hunter, an Air Force Musketeer trainer
and a T-33 jet trainer. You will also see the City of Toronto's famous Second
World War Avro Lancaster Mk. X bomber (undergoing restoration) that was built
at Malton Airport (Lester B. Pearson Int'l Airport) in 1944.
One of our most popular displays is the full-scale, all-metal replica of the world-beating Avro Arrow that is a Canadian legend still surrounded in mystery more than 40 years after its last flight. The Museum houses an unusual experimental aircraft, the University of Toronto's research craft, the Ornithopter, designed to fly by flapping its wings! This aircraft, hopefully, will set a record for the World's first manned ornithopter flight.
Summary of General Tour By Division / Grade Level
Primary Grades: Kindergarten - Grade 3 (tour length 1 hour)
Primary children learn to recognize the main parts of a real aircraft (nose,
body, tail, wings, cockpit, propeller, engine, landing gear) and their function.
Students are encouraged to identify
what's special or different
about certain aircraft on display, and to use the names they have learned.
Through demonstration and role-playing, they learn the basics of control
column operation. An examination of a wing (outer
is used to illustrate how structures are designed for strength using geometric
Demonstrations of opening the huge hangar doors thrill children of this age.
With the doors open, we can also view the windsock (we are at the edge of the
Downsview Airport runway) and relate this to the direction of aircraft take-
offs and landings.
Take-homes - Each child will receive a Styrofoam
easy-assembly glider, an aircraft drawing they can colour, and a blank page for
drawing one of the airplanes they like.
Junior Grades: Grade 4, 5, 6 (tour length 1.5 hours)
Through guided examination of Museum aircraft, Junior students explore the Science of Flight in terms of lift, thrust, drag, gravity, Bernoulli's Principle, angle of attack, action and reaction, and aerodynamics. Compression and expansion of gases, as applied in piston engines is illustrated using a cut-a-way working radial engine (that runs at a very slow speed, powered by an electric motor). A real jet engine (static) is used to compare generation of thrust in these two engine types. Downsview's history as a manufacturing centre, RCAF base, and research centre are discussed, and some of the many Ontario inventions that have contributed to the development of world aerospace technology are highlighted.
scavenger hunt style question sheet is available to allow
students to learn by observation, as they study the exhibits for 20 minutes, guided
by questions on the sheet. These are then discussed as a group.
Intermediate Grades: 7 - 10 (tour length 1.5 - 2 hours)
Students at this age level experience a more in-depth look at both the history of aviation and the development of aerospace technology during their tour. The study of aircraft systems receives special focus. Hydraulics, electrical/mechanical systems, instrumentation, aerodynamic considerations, navigation etc. are discussed as they are pointed out on the aircraft themselves.
Canada's role in running the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan during
the Second World War, the growth of the aviation industry at Downsview, and the
sacrifice of thousands of Canadian aviators during World War II is also explored.
An exploration of the role of women in factories and as ferry pilots, and an
life on the home front add a humanistic touch to
the technological theme of the day.
Senior Grades: 11 - University/College (tour length 2 hours)
Students at these levels explore aviation science, history and technology at a more advanced, technical level. Part of each tour will be conducted by an aerospace engineer or other expert holding special qualifications relevant to aviation. In addition, the design and construction of aircraft is illustrated using Museum displays and, whenever possible, by special guest presenters.