
Welcome to the Eight For Each State US Geography tour. I am so glad you are joining us.
North Carolina is known as the Tar Heel State because of the resolve of the Confederate soldiers who stuck to their posts like tar. This is just one of the many fascinating things we learned about North Carolina on our US Geography tour.
Our North Carolina state study is one of our more laid back ones. We enjoyed several books, fun facts and a craft. Enjoy the resources below and be sure to tell us about any exciting things you studied or did on your North Carolina tour!
1. T is for Tar Heel by Carol Crane
I love how these books can be a study in themselves or a jumping off point for further exploration. This time we mostly used it as a stand alone. We read more of the informative side bars than we usually do and talked more about each page.
The rhyming couplets make for enjoyable reading and the watercolor pictures give plenty of detail for the girls to look at.
Another fun set of books I found are the Little State Books. Little North Carolina has 10 riddles for your young reader to solve. Board books with rhyming riddles made even my eight year old excited to guess North Carolina facts.
2. Wright Brothers
North Carolina is famous for the first airplane flight at Kitty Hawk. We had fun looking at pictures of the airplanes and even making our own!
Here are the books we looked at:
- The Wright Brothers: How They Invented the Airplane by Russell Freedman
- The Story Of The Wright Brothers by Michelle Prater Burke
- Wilbur and Orville Wright: Young Fliers by Augusta Stevenson.
Make you own Wright Brothers Flyer
Materials
- Craft sticks
- Tongue depressor sticks
- Clothes pin
- Pony bead
- Paint
- Glue – Tacky or Elmer’s Glue All work the best.
Directions
- Paint all the pieces of your airplane. You will need at least one clothes pin for the body, two tongue depressor sticks for the wings, one to two craft sticks for the propellers and the tail. If you would like to dress up your plane paint a pony bead as well.
- Once your pieces are dry, assemble your plane with a bit of glue.
- I usually put a picture of our project in front of the girls, and they go from there. Sometimes having something to copy works better than written directions.
3. Sweet Potato Waffles
Sweet potatoes are North Carolina’s official state vegetable. North Carolina produces more sweet potatoes than any other state!
Hello USA North Carolina had a great recipe Ruth wanted to try out. I had some sweet potatoes handy so we did! They were a huge hit! I put pecans in mine and served everyone’s with a huge dollop of whipped cream. Yum!
4. Carl Sandburg
Carl Sandburg was a great American poet and writer. Personally I think we would have liked Mr. Sandburg, because his home contains 10,000 books. You can visit his home in Connemara.
We read one story from Rootabaga Stories. The stories grew out of Sandburg’s desire to have American fairy tales reflect American ways of life.
Take some time and explore the poetry and literature of Carl Sandburg. I know you will be glad you did.
5. Woolly Worm Festival
Every year in October, Banner Elk, North Carolina celebrates the Woolly Worm with a festival. Predictions are made about the coming winter by looking at the band on the caterpillar. A wide band means a mild winter, a narrow band means a harsh one.
This could be fun to talk about the life cycle of moths and butterflies, the difference between moths and butterflies, and the butterflies in your region.
Here are some fun resources.
Relentlessly Fun, Deceptively Educational uses What’s the Difference Between a Butterfly and a Moth? by Robin Koontz with a free printable to compare butterflies and moths.
- Caterpillars, Bugs and Butterflies by Mel Boring
- A fun picture depicting the life cycle of the Woolly Worm
- Color the Life Cycle – Moth
6. Roanoke
Roanoke has always interested freaked me out a bit. Where did the people from the lost colony go? Why did they not leave a better message? Why was there absolutely no trace of them?
Ruth enjoyed reading more about Roanoke in The Lost Colony Of Roanoke by
What do you think? What happened? After reading more about Roanoke, brainstorm ideas for a paragraph, story, or speech telling what you think happened. Read it to someone else and be prepared to answer any questions they might have. If you decide to do a speech, be sure to have note cards.
7. North Carolina Animals
In T is for Tar Heal we learned about several of North Carolina’s state animals.
- Cardinal – State Bird
- Eastern Box Turtle – A common sight in North Carolina and an important part or North Carolina’s streams and waterways.
- Honeybee – State Insect
- Plott Hounds – State Dog
8. State Book Lists
From time to time I will share some of the resources we are using to build our state study. Use these to make your US Geography tour your own.
Here are some great book lists we have enjoyed.
- Reading Around the USA: 50 Books for Kids from 50 States
- US State Quilt/Study Book Ideas
- Booking Across the USA 2013
- Around the USA Study
T is for Tar Heel: A North Carolina AlphabetNorth Carolina (Hello U.S.A.)
Rootabaga Stories
Abraham Lincoln: The Prairie Years and The War Years
Caterpillars, Bugs and Butterflies: Take-Along Guide (Take Along Guides)
The Lost Colony of Roanoke
Which state are you anxious to study?
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