October Sky

In my class we watched an amazing movie known as "October Sky". It is about a young boy known as Homer Hickam who watches one night as the Soviet satellite Sputnik zoomed across the night sky in his hometown of Coalwood, Virginia. He becomes inspired by the Sputnik and soon begins to build rockets with his friends Quentin Wilson, O'Dell Carroll, and Roy Lee. But, Homer's father dislikes the rocket building because he hopes for Homer to become a coal mine worker. Determined to win the science fair Homer ignores his father's remarks and soon the "Rocket Boys" start to build rockets. When they begin to launch rockets at their launch site at Cape Coalwood they were soon accused of starting a forest fire. Homer soon had to stop building and launching rockets which depressed him deeply. Homer's father soon gets into a coal mine accident and Homer takes over because Jim, Homer's brother received a college scholarship. Homer soon proves that they did not cause the forest fire after his father gets better. The fire was caused by a flare that was shot from a nearby airport. Soon the "Rocket Boys" enter the science fair which they won. When Homer also wins the nationals he is overwhelmed by college scholarships. When he arrives back to town he is a hero. He shows the medal to his teacher who supported him throughout the entire event, Ms. Riley, who was diagnosed with cancer. They then launch their final rocket which Homer's dad attended and launched. Homer and the other boys graduated from college. Homer's father died due to Black Lung Disease and Ms. Riley died due to cancer. This movie had many connections to Earth Science. For example, Homer's father worked in the coal mines which are located underground. Homer Hickam's story proves that you can accomplish anything if you put your mind to it.