The History of Flight | KS1 History / Topic Lesson

Take KS1 pupils on a visual journey through the history of flight, from early dreams of flying and Leonardo da Vinci’s sketches to hot-air balloons, the Wright brothers, Amy Johnson, modern aircraft and drones. Pupils develop a simple chronological understanding of how flight has changed over time while meeting significant people and events along the way.

The PowerPoint is the main teaching resource, combining accessible explanations with Talk Partners, movement, discussion and practical activities. Pupils explore the four forces of flight - lift, weight, thrust and drag - and consider how aircraft became faster, safer, larger and capable of travelling further.

The lesson also introduces Amy Johnson’s remarkable 1930 solo flight from Croydon to Darwin, explores the many jobs aircraft do today and looks ahead to drones and the future of aviation. A timeline activity helps pupils put key developments in chronological order.

Two printable resources are included as supporting extras: a highly visual History of Flight At A Glance colour-in reference sheet and a separate Activity Sheet featuring sequencing, matching, labelling the four forces, and opportunities to think, write and draw.

Curriculum links include events beyond living memory, chronology and significant individuals, with additional links to science, spoken language and maths in context.

NB. This lesson was designed and written by a teacher. The draft PowerPoint was made by Claude AI, the graphically enhanced version was then made by ChatGPT, and all editing was done by Copilot. Every stage was overseen, amended where necessary, and approved by a teacher. Total time approximately 8 hours.