Home / Hands-on activities / North Carolina's Story: First Flight, Lost Colony & Cherokee Nation

Social studies activity

North Carolina's Story: First Flight, Lost Colony & Cherokee Nation

The very first airplane flight lasted only 12 seconds — less time than it takes to count to 15! The brothers who flew it chose a beach in North Carolina because the wind was always blowing and the sand was soft for landing. Let's fold a paper airplane and time our flight!

Hands OnAbout 25 minutesScreen-freeParent help expected

Materials and setup

How this changes by age

Pre-K (ages 3–4)

The very first airplane flight lasted only 12 seconds — less time than it takes to count to 15! The brothers who flew it chose a beach in North Carolina because the wind was always blowing and the sand was soft for landing. Let's fold a paper airplane and time our flight!

Difficulty 1 of 3

Steps

  1. Look at a picture of the Wright Brothers' first plane. It looks a little like a big kite!
  2. Fold a piece of paper into a simple airplane together.
  3. Fly it across the room and count how many seconds it stays in the air — out loud, together.
  4. Ask: 'Was it more or less than 12 seconds? The Wright Brothers' very first flight was only 12 seconds!'
  5. Try again. Ask: 'What can you do to make it fly longer or farther?'

Learning objectives

  • Wonder at the fact that the first airplane flight lasted only 12 seconds
  • Notice how small changes (throwing harder, angling differently) change how long something flies
  • Ask why someone would want to invent something so new and unknown

Kindergarten (ages 5–6)

The Wright Brothers' first flight at Kitty Hawk on December 17, 1903 lasted 12 seconds and traveled 120 feet — less than the wingspan of a modern passenger plane! They chose North Carolina's beach specifically because the wind was always blowing and the sand was soft for landings. There's also a great mystery on the North Carolina coast: in 1590, explorers returned to find that 113 settlers had completely vanished — with only the word 'CROATOAN' carved into a tree. No one knows what happened! Draw the story of that famous day of flight!

Difficulty 2 of 3

Steps

  1. Fold a piece of paper into three sections to make a story strip.
  2. In section 1, draw Wilbur and Orville Wright in their workshop in Dayton, Ohio, sketching plans. Label it: 'Years of planning.'
  3. In section 2, draw the biplane lifting off the sand dunes at Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina. Add wind lines and a stopwatch showing 12 seconds.
  4. In section 3, draw a modern airplane in the sky — because flying to the moon became possible after this moment.
  5. Write or dictate a caption under each picture. Under section 2, write: '12 seconds that changed everything.'

Learning objectives

  • Retell that the first flight lasted 12 seconds and happened at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina
  • Explain that small beginnings can lead to enormous changes
  • Compare the Wright Brothers' plane to what came after

Early elementary (ages 6–8)

Why did the Wright Brothers go all the way to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina — instead of just flying near their home in Dayton, Ohio? Because Kill Devil Hills had consistent 13–15 mph winds AND soft sand for safe landings. Their first flight on December 17, 1903 lasted 12 seconds and covered 120 feet. That same day they made three more flights — the longest was 59 seconds and 852 feet. North Carolina also has one of history's greatest unsolved mysteries: in 1590, explorers returned to Roanoke Island to find that 113 settlers had completely vanished — with only the word 'CROATOAN' carved into a tree. Map the geography and investigate the mystery!

Difficulty 2 of 3

Steps

  1. Draw a North Carolina map. Mark Kill Devil Hills and Roanoke Island (both on the Outer Banks coast), plus the Cherokee homeland in the western mountains.
  2. On Kill Devil Hills, write: 'First flight: Dec 17, 1903 — 12 seconds, 120 feet.' Add a small biplane sketch.
  3. Draw a compass rose. Then write: 'Why here? Consistent 13–15 mph wind + soft sand for landings.'
  4. On Roanoke Island, write: '113 settlers, 1587–1590. Vanished. Only clue: CROATOAN.' List three theories historians have about what happened.
  5. Write 2–3 sentences: What do Kill Devil Hills and the Lost Colony have in common? (Hint: both involve daring people facing the unknown.)

Learning objectives

  • Explain WHY Kitty Hawk was chosen — connecting geography to decision-making
  • Recall specific data about the first flight: date, duration, distance
  • Locate the Outer Banks and western Cherokee territory on a North Carolina map
  • Analyze a historical mystery and form a supported hypothesis

Upper elementary (ages 8–10)

Here's the dilemma Orville and Wilbur Wright faced in 1900: they were bicycle mechanics from Ohio. They had no college degrees. No government funding. Experts said human flight was impossible — the New York Times published an editorial in 1903 saying it would take '1 to 10 million years.' The Wright Brothers flew 9 days later. North Carolina is also home to the Cherokee Nation — one of the most fascinating stories of cultural resilience in American history. The Cherokee developed their own written language (the Cherokee syllabary, invented by Sequoyah in 1821) and published the first Native American newspaper, the Cherokee Phoenix. The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians still live in the western North Carolina mountains today. How do we honor both of these extraordinary stories from the same state?

Difficulty 3 of 3

Steps

  1. Research the Wright Brothers' path to Kitty Hawk: who doubted them, what specific problems they solved (wing warping, elevator control, propeller pitch), and the exact conditions on December 17, 1903.
  2. Research Sequoyah and the Cherokee syllabary: how he created a writing system for a spoken language with no written form, how long it took, and how quickly the Cherokee Nation became one of the most literate populations in North America.
  3. Research the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in western North Carolina — the Qualla Boundary — and what life looks like there today.
  4. Create a two-column timeline from 1820 to 1910: Cherokee cultural achievements in the left column, US aviation/technology history in the right column.
  5. Write a 4-paragraph essay: What does it mean that one state is home to both the world's first airplane flight AND one of the greatest acts of cultural invention (Sequoyah's syllabary)? What do these two stories have in common?
  6. Final question: The Wright Brothers are on North Carolina's license plate. Should someone else share that honor? Who, and why?
  7. The Wright Brothers ran a bike shop to fund their flight experiments at Kitty Hawk in 1903. A bike then cost about $30 (roughly $1,000 today, estimate). If they sold 4 bikes a month with a $10 profit each, how many months did it take to save the estimated $1,000 they spent on their flyer? Invent a side business a modern kid inventor could run to fund a project.
  8. The 1903 Wright Flyer had a wingspan of 40 feet and flew 120 feet on its first trip. Mark 120 feet with a tape measure outside and walk it. Then draw the Flyer, label the wings, propeller, and rudder, and sketch one change you would make to help it fly farther.

Learning objectives

  • Research the specific technical challenges the Wright Brothers solved and connect geography to their choice of Kitty Hawk
  • Explain Sequoyah's invention of the Cherokee syllabary and its impact on Cherokee literacy and sovereignty
  • Analyze how a single state can hold multiple stories of extraordinary innovation
  • Construct a thematic argument about what makes an achievement historically significant

Safety and evidence note

Read the full activity before beginning. An adult should supervise tools, heat, food, outdoor work, movement, and experiments as appropriate. Completion records that the activity was done; the child’s explanation, work sample, photo, or demonstration is stronger evidence of learning than a completion check alone.

Related social studies activities

Advanced Map Skills

Learn what maps are! Follow a simple treasure map around your house or yard. Maps show us where things are.

Alabama's Story: Cotton, Civil Rights & Red Hills

Did you know that one woman sitting down on a bus helped change America forever? Rosa Parks sat down in Alabama — and the whole country stood up. And Alabama is also home to NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville — where scientists designed the Saturn V rocket that sent people to the Moon! Ten years after Rosa Parks's bus protest, thousands of people marched together across a bridge in Selma, Alabama to ask for the right to vote. Let's draw that bridge!

Alaska's Story: Glaciers, Gold Rush & Seward's Folly

Alaska is so gigantic that if you put it on top of the rest of the United States, it would stretch from Florida all the way to California! And it has rivers made of ice — called glaciers — that move SO slowly you can't see them move. Let's build an icy Alaska scene!

American History Timeline

Color an American flag together — count the 13 stripes and 50 stars! Then wave it and sing a patriotic song.

Browse all 575 activities · Explore course syllabi