Hi First Graders,
It was a long car ride, but here I am at the Outer Banks. It is a NC beach that is on a long skinny island in the Atlantic Ocean. It is pretty here, and VERY windy. It was because of the wind that the Wright Brothers picked this place to try out the first airplane. It needed lots of wind to help it fly.
The people in North Carolina are very proud of this. You can see a picture of the first airplane on the back of the NC state quarter.
Jaylen wants to know if I saw any famous buildings, and Ziggy asked if I saw any big buildings. The answers are yes and yes. I saw a building that is big AND famous. It is not a skyscraper, it is a lighthouse.
The island has some very tall lighthouses. They warn ships about where there are rocks in the water. Many, many shipwrecks have happened in the water near the Outer Banks. A nickname of this area of the ocean is "The Graveyard of the Atlantic". That sounds creepy, but it does describe what really happened here. Do you remember another place where I saw a lighthouse?
Andre wondered what kind of animals are here.
I saw wild horses. These horses have no owners.
They live together in small herds on the beaches and in the wooded areas of the island. They aren't afraid of people because they see so many of us. You can get pretty close to them, but not touch them. There is a law against that.
They came here from ship wrecks that happened long ago. When ships carrying horses crashed and sank in the water, they swam to shore and have been living wild ever since. Isn't that cool?
Here are some other animals that live here. They look a bit like eagles. They are called osprey, and they are birds of prey that hunt and eat fish. They fly down to the water and grab the fish with their feet.They made their nest on a tall wooden platform that people built for them. Can you tell what the birds used to make the nest?
Here is one last animal picture. It was the smallest one I saw. Do you know what it is?
That's right, a dragonfly. There are lots and lots of them in the Outer Banks of NC. I saw them everywhere, but especially at the beach. They fly very slowly and are very pretty.
Ka'Mya asked if I went to the beach. We did, but not to swim. It's not really hot out, and the water is very cold! We walked on the beach, and took a boat ride. You can see some small boats, and behind them, a long strip of sand in the water. That is called a sand bar. The red floating barrel is a marker to show where the deeper water is, so the boats don't get stuck in the sand.
This is a short trip, but it has been a lot of fun. I will be back in Rock Hill later this week.
I'll see you soon!
Your Friend,
Flat Stanley
It was a long car ride, but here I am at the Outer Banks. It is a NC beach that is on a long skinny island in the Atlantic Ocean. It is pretty here, and VERY windy. It was because of the wind that the Wright Brothers picked this place to try out the first airplane. It needed lots of wind to help it fly.
This is what the plane looked like. It was made of wood and cloth and had no motor. It seems more like a big kite than a plane. I went to see it in a museum.
The people in North Carolina are very proud of this. You can see a picture of the first airplane on the back of the NC state quarter.
Jaylen wants to know if I saw any famous buildings, and Ziggy asked if I saw any big buildings. The answers are yes and yes. I saw a building that is big AND famous. It is not a skyscraper, it is a lighthouse.
The island has some very tall lighthouses. They warn ships about where there are rocks in the water. Many, many shipwrecks have happened in the water near the Outer Banks. A nickname of this area of the ocean is "The Graveyard of the Atlantic". That sounds creepy, but it does describe what really happened here. Do you remember another place where I saw a lighthouse?
Andre wondered what kind of animals are here.
I saw wild horses. These horses have no owners.
They live together in small herds on the beaches and in the wooded areas of the island. They aren't afraid of people because they see so many of us. You can get pretty close to them, but not touch them. There is a law against that.
They came here from ship wrecks that happened long ago. When ships carrying horses crashed and sank in the water, they swam to shore and have been living wild ever since. Isn't that cool?
Here are some other animals that live here. They look a bit like eagles. They are called osprey, and they are birds of prey that hunt and eat fish. They fly down to the water and grab the fish with their feet.They made their nest on a tall wooden platform that people built for them. Can you tell what the birds used to make the nest?
That's right, a dragonfly. There are lots and lots of them in the Outer Banks of NC. I saw them everywhere, but especially at the beach. They fly very slowly and are very pretty.
Ka'Mya asked if I went to the beach. We did, but not to swim. It's not really hot out, and the water is very cold! We walked on the beach, and took a boat ride. You can see some small boats, and behind them, a long strip of sand in the water. That is called a sand bar. The red floating barrel is a marker to show where the deeper water is, so the boats don't get stuck in the sand.
This is a short trip, but it has been a lot of fun. I will be back in Rock Hill later this week.
I'll see you soon!
Your Friend,
Flat Stanley