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The Lewis and Clark Expedition: Classroom Help and Lesson Plans
The Lewis and Clark Expedition is more than history, it is adventure, discovery, science, mapping, wilderness travel, relations with the
native Indians,
and an American heroic saga
For classroom use there is social studies, there is natural history and ecology, there is Indian culture
and history, there is literature and art and perhaps even local history as well, depending on where you live.
There are wonderful opportunities for students to learn research and presentation
skills and to become involved in an exciting and romantic, yet true,
tale from the earliest days of the United States. With the bicentennial
of the Expedition approaching, teachers can involve their classes and even whole schools in this event.
The Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation's Curriculum Resource Guide
An American Legacy: the Lewis and Clark Expedition A Curriculum Resource Guide for Middle and Junior High Schools.
The Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation, Great Falls, MT. latest edition 2001.
Lessons plans and references for science, math, social studies, languages, and the arts, with content knowledge standards for grades 6-8.
The Resource Guide is available from the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage
Foundation, Inc., PO Box 3434, Great Falls, MT 59403 or call 1-888-701-3434
to order by phone, or visit their website: http://www.lewisandclark.org. The
cost is $45 + $7 (shipping and handling)."
"This is a stellar teacher resource
with a guide to national standards.... The full curriculum
guide is 500 pages of ready-to-use material. It's user friendly,
designed for a variety of learning levels and written and reviewed by
experts in the field. Teachers said: -- The best in the business. An
unbeatable curriculum. -- A great investment in learning. It invites
students to connect their lives with previous centuries."
(from http://www.teachlewis-clark.org/americanlegacy.html )
"...Janice Martin, a Staff Development Trainer with the Farmington
Public Schools. She recommends An American Legacy: The Lewis and Clark
Expedition. It contains lesson plans, reference guide, handouts, and
reading materials. Martin stated " The binder is two inches thick and
filled with great resources,information, and lessons. I have adapted
this curriculum both up for High School and down for Elementary."
(from http://www.classroomhelp.com/links/lewisandclark.html )
Online
Learning Online's
The Lewis and Clark Rediscovery Project
(http://l3.ed.uidaho.edu/index.asp?ExpeditionID=1)
Each of a number of stops along the trail receives a detailed treatment
with Background Scenario, Essential Questions, Activities, and links to
many online text and pictorial resources, including biographies,
descriptions, analysis, maps, and even video clips of interviews with
authorities such a James Ronda.
Jefferson National Expansion Museum
TEACHER RESOURCES
On The Lewis and Clark Expedition and the Louisiana Purchase
(http://www.nps.gov/jeff/LewisClark2/Education/Education.htm)
A variety of curricula for pre-K through twelfthth grades, and a unit centered on the journal and journey of
Patrick Gass.
PBS Lesson Plans to Accompany the Ken Burns
Documentary "Lewis and Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery"
Lewis and Clark Classroom Resources
(http://www.pbs.org/lewisandclark/class/)
"The lessons plans and activities developed for this Web site comprise
a multidisciplinary unit that uses television and computers as learning
tools in the subject areas of science, mathematics, social studies, and
language arts. Although the lessons are written for middle level
students, they do contain suggested extensions and adaptations to
facilitate their use with elementary and secondary students. Each
lesson could also be modified to be conducted at home. The classroom
activities were created by a team of award-winning educators to
parallel the four-hour television documentary, "Lewis and Clark: The
Journey of the Corps of Discovery." Each lesson includes Teacher Notes
and downloadable Student Activity Sheets that can be printed, copied,
and distributed to students. The Teacher Notes for each lesson provide
learning objectives, related national content standards, a list of
tools and materials needed, the time necessary to complete each lesson,
extensions and adaptations, assessment recommendations, and the
teaching strategy." Most of these lessons require three to five class
periods or more and study topics in some depth.
Examples from the Table of Contents:
(http://www.pbs.org/lewisandclark/class/idx_les.html)
Lesson 1 Uncharted Territory: in which students chart what was known
about the areas Lewis and Clark explored; compare and contrast
pre-Lewis and Clark and modern maps of North America; and study the
expedition’s route.
Lesson 4 Analyzing the Lewis and Clark Journals: in which students
use Corps of Discovery journal entries as primary documents providing
insight into the expedition’s journey. (Links to highlights in Journal
entries available online.)
Lesson 5 Lewis and Clark and Native Americans, Part I: in which
students learn about the structure of the Dakota Nation; explore the
relationship between the Corps of Discovery and the Lakota; and study
the conflict between the two parties from varied points of view.
Lesson 8 Are We There Yet?: in which students work in cooperative
groups, using maps and information from the film or online sources to
estimate the distances covered and the time needed by the Corps of
Discovery to complete its expedition. Bar graphs are used to highlight
aspects of these findings and comparisons are made with the actual
data, taken from records of the Expedition.
Lesson 11 Forces of Nature: The Challenges of River Travel: in which
lab groups actively investigate slope, gravity, velocity to study how
rivers are formed; create their own river and apply forces of nature to
alter that river; then apply their knowledge to study how slope,
gravity, velocity, and other forces affected the Lewis and Clark
Expedition.
Lesson 16 Hear Ye, Hear Ye: Read all About It!: in which students
practice recording notes from primary and secondary sources, then use
them to produce an online newspaper depicting events from the Lewis and
Clark expedition which they can publish on the school Web site.
National Endowment for the Humanities'
On This Day With Lewis and Clark
(http://edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=297)
A set of five lessons with many online resources and suggestions for
extensions. It provides immediate Lewis and Clark background and links
to other related background lessons, then has students trace the
journey on a U.S. map, explore some of the discoveries made and the
hazards faced by the Expedition. Uses the Guiding Questions: How were
the day-to-day experiences of the Lewis and Clark Expedition colored by
a lack of knowledge about what the expedition members would face? How
did the expedition members fulfill the charge given by President Thomas
Jefferson? Complete Lesson Plans with Online Resources and Worksheets.
The National Archives'
Teaching With Documents: Lesson Plans for the Lewis and Clark Expedition
(http://www.archives.gov/digital_classroom/lessons/lewis_and_clark/lewis_and_clark.html)
Lessons developed and written by Douglas Perry, a teacher at Gig Harbor
High School in Gig Harbor, WA; intended for middle school classes but
could be used at the high school level as well or adapted for the upper
elementary grades. This is a fine set of online documents and
photographs, with a teaching activities and document analysis
worksheets for their use. An introduction supplies background and
links to the following primary sources online:
1. President Thomas Jefferson's confidential message to Congress
concerning relations with the Indians
2. Message of President Thomas Jefferson laying before the Senate the
conventions with France for the cession of the province of Louisiana to
the United States
3. Message of President Thomas Jefferson concerning the cession of the
province of Louisiana
4. French Exchange copy of the Louisiana Purchase Treaty--Convention
for Payment of Sums Due by France to U. S.
5. Letter to James Madison, secretary of state, announcing that
Louisiana was purchased from France
6. Receipt for wine and kegs purchased by Meriwether Lewis
7. Receipt for 131 rolls of pigtail tobacco purchased by Meriwether
Lewis
8. List of Indian presents purchased by Meriwether Lewis
9. President Thomas Jefferson's message to Congress communicating the
discoveries of the explorers Lewis and Clark
10. Photograph: Overlooking the Columbia River at Corbett, near the
Cascade Locks on the Lewis and Clark Trail, 1973
11. Photograph: Early morning view of the Missouri River near Atchison,
Kansas, 1974 . The scene was described by Lewis and Clark as having
much tall grass and abundant game.
12. Photograph: Rolling hills in the outskirts of Atchison, Kansas,
1974 . The tall grass prairie was described by Lewis and Clark and
painted by George Catlin between 1830 and 1850.
13. Photograph: Close up of Indian petroglyphs mentioned in the journal
of Lewis and Clark located on a limestone cliff at the mouth of the
Nemaha River near Troy, Kansas, 1974.
The above is part of a larger set of such lessons for classroom use of the resources
of the National Archives online:
Teaching With Documents: Lesson Plans
(http://www.archives.gov/digital_classroom/teaching_with_documents.html)
and see their essay on the use of documents in the classroom
History in the Raw
(http://www.archives.gov/digital_classroom/history_in_the_raw.htm)
The National Geographic-sponsored IMAX film Lewis & Clark: Great Journey West has associated
Lesson Plans Related to the Film
(grades three to eight)
(http://www.nationalgeographic.com/lewisandclark/teachers.html)
Classroomhelp.com's
Lewis and Clark Expedition
(http://www.classroomhelp.com/links/lewisandclark.html)
is a good resource with links to several Lewis and
Clark "Webquests" (favorite activities with many elementary teachers)
as well as to basic resources, especially online ones.
The Lewis and Clark Archive Featured Education Links
(http://www.lcarchive.org/featured.html#education)
section has links to several useful Lewis and Clark curriculum and lessons websites.
Captains Clark and Lewis each kept a detailed journal, making entries
most days during the journey. They are full of fascinating
stories and information, the primary resource for the
history of the expedition. Any classroom study of Lewis and Clark
must begin with the Journals in one form or another. For several alternative versions,
see
L&C Journals page (http://home.earthlink.net/~swier/LCjournals.html).
The short Bakeless version mentioned there
is back in print and has footnotes on many pages with interesting information and insights that will appeal to
students as well as their teachers.
Following Lewis and Clark's Track The Story of the Corps of Discovery An Educational Activity Book.
Hill, William, E.
Oregon-California Trails Association, PO Box 1019, Independence Missouri. Worksheets with answers in back, very good Lewis and Clark classroom activities for grade schools.
Click here to see what the schools in one region have done already
(http://www.nwrel.org/teachlewisandclark/index.html).
Northwest Regional Education Laboratory invited students and teachers
"to join a modern-day community of learners to update the journals of
Lewis and Clark's 28-month trip" and schools from 16 communities were
the first to make contributions to the "Journal Update" project during
school years 1999-2000 and 2000-2001. Their project topics range from
transportation to mapping to Sacagawea to plants and animals on the
trail and even Nez Perce Appaloosa horses.
This website also contains related essays on teaching about the Lewis
and Clark Expedition which can be found at
http://www.nwrac.org/pub/schoolwide/fall01/6expedition.html
http://www.nwrac.org/pub/schoolwide/fall01/7navigating.html
and
http://www.nwrac.org/pub/schoolwide/fall01/4voice.html
For a good overview in the form of a story for Middle School readers,
try The Captain's Dog: My Journey with the Lewis and Clark Tribe by Roland Smith, Harcourt, Inc, 1999, 287 pages.
The author is an expert in wolf and canine behavior so Seaman's view of the Expedition includes much
on other animals and a dog's-eye view of the human relationships, as well as an account drawn from the Journals.
This could work well either as a teacher read-aloud or to read individually as part of
a literature class. Could serve also as a good starting point for teachers not familiar
with the Expedition!
Another good book for Middle School readers, again a possibility for read-aloud or group use or teacher background as well,
is Sacajawea by Joseph Bruchac. Scholastic, 2001. 208 pages.
In this novel for older readers, Sacajawea's story is told in alternate
chapters by Sacajawea and Clark, as if both are telling it to Sacajawea's son
Pomp at age 7. Includes a useful bibliography. "...including excerpts from Clark's and Lewis's
journals as well as traditional Shoshone tales, the often-humorous,
always compelling story inspires, educates, and entertains.
Joseph Bruchac has written more than 60 books for children
and adults, and received many literary awards." - Emilie Coulter
For more books for classroom use, see
L&C Books page (http://home.earthlink.net/~swier/LCbooks.html).
For classroom use, perhaps as a day to day
reading ("the Lewis and Clark moment"), teachers may find the ongoing entries by students
at the University of Kentucky useful.
Click here (http://www.uky.edu/ArtsSciences/ModernStudies/HumSocSci/lc95/Welcome.html)
for their Home Page.
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