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On This Day With Lewis and Clark (9-12)

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Looking at historic maps of the West, students can begin to appreciate the immensity and mystery of the mission Lewis and Clark accepted. As "experts" investigating specific subjects assigned to Lewis by President Jefferson, students will conduct careful research. Reading brief diary entries of the men of the Corps will spark the interest of students as they relive the discoveries of the original participants.


Subject Areas
History and Social Studies
U.S. History - Colonial America and the New Nation
U.S. History - Native American
U.S. History - The West

Time Required
3-5 class periods

Skills
Collaboration
Map reading
Primary document analysis
Sequencing

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?

Learning Objectives:
Students completing this lesson should be able to:

  • Describe some of the hazards faced by the Lewis and Clark expedition.
  • Trace the journey on a U.S. map.
  • List some of the discoveries made on the journey.

Student Materials

Expedition member diary entries, PDF document.

Specialists chart (to note discoveries), PDF worksheet.

 

Web Links

Standards

NCSS-2
Time, continuity, and change. The ways human beings view themselves in and over time.

NGS-1
How to Use Maps and Other Geographic Representations, Tools, and Technologies to Acquire, Process, and Report Information from a Spatial Perspective.