Bringing Amelia Earhart Back to Life

We are always looking for interesting ways to tie-things together so Katie can engage with a subject in different ways. With the release of Amelia, the movie, we decided to dive into Amelia Earhart.

On Sunday, we took our friend Sandra to the movie with us. Although it was a little long, we really enjoyed it. It helped us understand what an incredible feminist Amelia was – how she absolutely thought herself capable in a time when men were typically the heroes.

After the movie, Katie and Sandra planned a field trip to the Oakland Aviation Museum. Amelia started her last flight at the Oakland Airport. Sandra, born and raised in Oakland, had never been to the museum and figured they would have a great time exploring together.

Before they went, I made Katie watch one more show with me: The Final Hours on PBS. It was an interesting analysis of what went wrong on their way to Howland Island. How indicators showed that her navigator was likely on track but, because of a conflux of circumstances, she didn’t follow his directions and they circled off-track to their ultimate death.

Finally, on Wednesday, Sandra and Katie hit the road and visited the museum. Katie really enjoyed it and liked seeing the actual places and artifacts from Amelia’s life. Bringing it to life was really powerful for her. It was a great set of activities that made a lasting impression.