Chapter 31: World War II "Battle of Britain"

Introduction
Students have read about the Royal Air Force (RAF) and how its pilots, while sustaining great losses, inflicted even heavier losses on the German air force. Though the Germans sent over 1,000 planes a day during the Battle of Britain, the pilots of the Hurricanes and Spitfires—the British fighter planes—won this important air war.

Lesson Description
Students will go to the Battle of Britain Web site. They will then answer four questions about what they have read.

Instructional Objectives
1. Students will learn more about the Battle of Britain.
2. Students will learn more about the significant part played in the battle by the Royal Air Force.

Student Web Activity Answers
1. Over 300,000 soldiers were saved.
2. It would pose a threat to German troops in an invasion of Britain.
3. The RAF, though short of planes and pilots, held off the Luftwaffe and thus prevented a German invasion.
4. Students' answers will vary but should include such things as the training of the pilots, the fact that they were fighting for their freedom, the use of radar technology, and problems of weather and communication faced by the German pilots, who were relatively far from home.

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