In just two weeks we planned to study the first hot air balloon flight in 1783. Our study (part of our Tapestry of Grace journey) was to focus on the exhibition in Versailles in September. At this demonstration the Montgolfier brothers launched a balloon with a small crew of barnyard animals.
Google alerted me this morning that today, June* 4th, is another historic date for balloon (and Montgolfier) firsts--being the anniversary of the first public demonstration--smaller than the Versailles event, and without any live cargo.
The September flight of the barnyard animals--with Marie Antoinette and Benjamin Franklin among the prestigious spectators--makes for a more fascinating study, but the April June 4th date is important, and a great excuse to bump the balloonist portion of our "Tapestry Time" up a few weeks. Sometimes breaking stride is fun.
Always interested in the scientific angle behind our studies, we watched an online "How Stuff Works" video about hot air balloons, and are planning an experiment for our celebration week at the unit's end!
While the children colored their own hot air balloons, we read Hot Air, a hillarious book from the perspective of the first living creatures known to fly in a hot air balloon!
Of course, this would all have been more helpful if I'd planned in advance and posted about it before June* 4th! Fortunately, I've never made any claims to usefulness.
But we had fun ballooning!
*Edited. I'm so grateful that someone "somewhere" is looking out for me.
Somewhere posted a helpful note in the comments alerting me to the fact that I'd typed April instead of June! Evidently I had the wrong month deeply imbedded in my brain because I typed it not once, but twice. Indeed the present month, and the month of the first hot air balloon demonstration (without cargo) is, and was, June.
Perhaps the wrong date got imbedded in my head because of all this rain! Our weather has certainly been of the "April Shower" variety this week, and it doesn't seem "Junish". And perhaps the wrong date was imbedded because my brain should have been bedded. ( Late night posts are accidents waiting to happen.) Or perhaps it is just that I tend to be confused--certaily true! Whatever my excuse, please know that it is June. I'm likely to not fully absorb that June is here until August sometime.
Thank you, Somewhere! 
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Thursday, June 5, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Carla
http://disenfranchisedhousewife.blogspot.com/