To try and up my game this year, I decided to add artist and composer studies to our curriculum (inspired largely by Heidi @ Mt. Hope!). The plan is to study a different composer and artist every 6 weeks. We are currently studying Mozart and da Vinci. It just so happens that our local museum currently has a special exhibit called Leonardo da Vinci: Man, Inventor, Genius.
The thing he was most known for in my mind was painting the Mona Lisa, but I didn't realize what a very prolific inventor he truly was. There were around 60 models of his inventions... many of them focusing on the pursuit of flight. After we viewed the exhibit, we watched an IMAX film called Adrenaline Rush. The main topic was human pursuit of flight ~ skydiving, base jumping, etc. Did you know that da Vinci sketched the first ever parachute design, all the way back in 1485?? Towards the end of the movie, some scientists and adventurers put Leonardo's parachute to the test - and it was a success! He truly was a man before his time.
For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards, for there you have been and there you will long to return.
Leonardo da Vinci
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