WESTWARD, HO!!

Master Teacher: Joy LeaMaster

Overview

Through interactive media, students will learn about the Lewis and Clark Expedition, including the reasons for their journey and the difficulties encountered by the party. Students will create maps with explanations of points of interest on the Lewis and Clark trail.

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to:

• Understand how the Lewis and Clark Expedition began.
• Describe and define the hardships and difficulties encountered by members of the Expedition.
• Identify important people and events during this time period.
  

Oregon Standards Available at:

http://www.ode.state.or.us/cifs

Social Science – Geography

• Understand and use spatial concepts of geography.
• Locate places and understand and use geographic information or relationships by reading, interpreting and preparing maps and other geographic representations.
• Identify and analyze physical and human characteristics of places and regions, the processes that have shaped them and their geographic significance.
• Understand the distribution and movement of people, ideas and products.

Social Science – History

• Identify and analyze various perspectives and interpretations of historical issues and events.
• Understand the importance and lasting influence of issues, events, people and developments in world history.
  

Media Components

Video

Check the link at http://www.opb.org/edmedia/trs/ to find access to the video(s) from unitedstreaming™ referenced in this lesson plan.

• "Lewis and Clark Expedition, The"  (20:41)
  o Clip: "The Louisiana Purchase: Jefferson Appoints Lewis and Clark to Explore the New Territory" (01:48)
  o Clip: "The Journals of Lewis and Clark: What They Found" (00:52)
  o Clip: "The Expedition Begins" (02:50)
  o Clip: "Life on the Expedition" (01:56)
  o Clip: "Winter Arrives: The Challenges of the Cold" (02:51)
  o Clip: "Encountering Wildlife" (01:04)
  o Clip: "A Fork in the River: Navigating the Great Falls and Three Forks of the Missouri River" (03:22)
  o Clip:  "The Continental Divide: Over the Mountain and Through the Woods" (01:52)
  o Clip:  "From Shore to Shore: To the Pacific Ocean and Back" (02:51)

Web

• Discovering Lewis and Clark
  An interactive Web site for students to learn about specific sites Lewis and Clark encountered in their journey across the United States.
  http://www.lewis-clark.org/index.htm

Materials

Per Student:

• The Lewis and Clark Expedition Viewer's Guide (Check the link at http://www.opb.org/edmedia/trs/ to find access to the blackline master(s) from unitedstreaming™ referenced in this lesson plan.)

Per Class and/or Group:

• Access to computers with the Internet
• Transparency copy of page 1 of The Lewis and Clark Expedition Viewer's Guide (Check the link at http://www.opb.org/edmedia/trs/ to find access to the blackline master(s) from unitedstreaming™ referenced in this lesson plan.)
• Large bulletin board-sized map (make using overhead projector or opaque projector) of The Lewis and Clark Expedition Map Activity on page 2 of The Lewis and Clark Expedition Viewer's Guide (Check the link at http://www.opb.org/edmedia/trs/ to find access to the blackline master(s) from unitedstreaming™ referenced in this lesson plan.)
  

Prep for Teachers

Acquire materials and equipment, including a video projector to show the video clips.

Make enough copies of The Lewis and Clark Expedition Viewer's Guide for each student.

Make a bulletin board-sized map of The Lewis and Clark Expedition Map Activity from page 2 of The Lewis and Clark Expedition Viewer's Guide. (Check the link at http://www.opb.org/edmedia/trs/ to find access to the blackline master(s) from unitedstreaming™ referenced in this lesson plan.) You can easily do this by displaying this map on a bulletin board in the classroom or school hallway and tracing it.

Bookmark the Web site www.lewis-clark.org/index.htm on each of the computers the students will be using.

Ensure that the latest versions of the free QuickTime or Windows Player plug-ins are installed on each computer to be used in this lesson.

When using media, provide students with a Focus for Media Interaction, a specific task to complete and/or information to identify during or after viewing of video segments, Web sites or other multimedia elements.

Introductory Activity

Step 1: Ask students if they have ever heard about something called the Lewis and Clark Expedition. What do they know about it? How long ago did it take place?

Step 2: Play the video clip, "The Louisiana Purchase: Jefferson Appoints Lewis and Clark to Explore the New Territory" (01:48), from the video, "The Lewis and Clark Expedition" (20:41). As a Focus for Media Interaction, ask students what they think would have been the most difficult and the most interesting parts of the journey and also if they would have been willing to accompany Lewis and Clark on this journey of discovery.

Step 3: Ask students to share their initial thoughts about the Corps of Discovery. If you feel it would be appropriate, note their answers on the chalkboard for all to see. Possible difficulties: crossing mountains; finding food and shelter; keeping track of their notes so they didn't get damaged or lost; choosing the right equipment; fear of the unknown; having to leave everything you've known for two years. Possible interesting parts: meeting Native Americans for the first time; discovering unknown plant and animal species; knowing that you are participating in something so important. Ask for a show of hands of how many would have been willing to go along. Select a few students from both sides to explain why they answered the way they did.

Learning Activities

Step 1: Explain to students they will continue watching this video about Lewis and Clark and their journey across the United States. As a Focus for Media Interaction, they are to write answers to the eight questions on page one of The Lewis and Clark Expedition Viewer's Guide. (Check the link at http://www.opb.org/edmedia/trs/ to find access to the blackline master(s) from unitedstreaming™ referenced in this lesson plan.)

Step 2: Review the questions on page 1 of The Lewis and Clark Expedition Viewer's Guide and check to see if anyone has any questions. Note that we've already heard the answer to question #2. Check to see if anyone remembers the answer: Jefferson thought that the Louisiana Purchase might contain a water route across the continent that could be used for commerce. You may need to play the video clip, "The Louisiana Purchase: Jefferson Appoints Lewis and Clark to Explore the New Territory" (01:48), from the video, "The Lewis and Clark Expedition" (20:41), again.

Step 3: As an additional Focus for Media Interaction, ask your students to continue asking themselves if they would have been willing to join Lewis and Clark and tell them you will check with them again at the end of the video to see if their answers change.

Step 4: Play the video, "The Lewis and Clark Expedition"  (20:41), from where you left off. Depending upon your preferences, you may wish to play the video in segments or pause at different points within the full-length video to allow students time to write answers. Resume when it appears students have completed writing.

Step 5:  Display the transparency of page 1 of The Lewis and Clark Expedition Viewer's Guide on the overhead. Ask students to share their answers and write them for all to see. Tell students they may add to or edit their answers if necessary.

Step 6: Collect their worksheets.

Step 7: Ask if any students changed their minds about joining Lewis and Clark because of what they learned from the video. Ask which information caused them to change their minds.

Culminating Activity

Step 1: Ask students to work in pairs on a computer and log onto the Lewis and Clark Web site at www.lewis-clark.org/index.htm. Tell them to refer to the section in the middle of the home page called "A Map of the Trail" as they complete their assignment.

Step 2: Assign each pair of students a number from 1-19, which corresponds to a segment of the Lewis and Clark trail. As a Focus for Media Interaction, tell students they are to write down the three most important facts about this section of the trail.

Step 3: Project the Web page "A Map of the Trail" using the video projector. Highlight each point along the trail, beginning with point #1.  Ask students to share the three (or more) important aspects of their section with the class. Continue this process until all 19 points have been described.

Step 4: Collect students' important facts and transcribe them onto 3" x 5" index cards according to the 19 trail points. Ask students to pin the facts on the wall map you created at the corresponding points. Keep this map on display in the room or school hallway for all class visitors to view.

Cross-Curricular Extensions

Language Arts – Writing

• Tell students to imagine that they are living in the United States in 1803. Ask them to write a letter to the newspaper either supporting or criticizing Jefferson's decision to purchase the Louisiana Territory.

Speaking

• Students may use additional information provided by the Lewis and Clark Web site at www.lewis-clark.org/index.htm to compose and deliver an informative speech about some aspect of the Lewis and Clark trail.

Community Connections

• Students may visit the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center in Oregon City or Baker City to learn about exploration of the western United States.