On the trial of Lewis & Clark: encourage students to form their own Corps of Discovery with these Internet-based activities - CyberHunt Activities

Instructor, Nov-Dec, 2002 by Gail Skroback Hennessey

Bring the thrill of the expedition into your middle- or upper-grade classroom! Begin by distributing the CyberHunt Reproducible, opposite.

Mapping the Journey

As they explored the vast lands of the West, Lewis and Clark had no maps to guide them; they had to develop their own as they traveled. Visit www.pbs.org/lewisandclark/archive/idx_map.html to view some of these documents, then www.lewisandclark200.com/usamap.phtml to print a modern map for your students. Trace Lewis and Clark's route with them, pausing at points along the trail to talk about conditions the expedition might have faced at each location. Then ask small groups to each choose a point or region along the trail and research an important event that happened there, such as when Sacagawea joined the group, the first meeting of a particular Native American tribe, or a time when the explorers faced an unusual challenge. Ask each group to present a report on its findings and attach a map with the group's selected region highlighted. Invite students to visit www.lewisclark.org, www.time.com/time/2002/lewis_clark, www.peabody.harvard.edu/Lewis_and_Clark and other sites on these pages for regional informatio n, such as dates Lewis and Clark visited, tribes local to the area, and geographical details. Display the completed reports in order of the points along the trail. You might also ask groups to plot points on a class wall map and write their events on note cards. Hang all the fact cards as a border around the map for an informational Lewis and Clark display.

Join the Corps

For interactive writing prompts, have your class imagine what being part of the expedition might have been like on a day-to-day basis. Then invite students to choose someone in the Corps of Discovery and write fictional diary entries from that persons point of view. Encourage students to use their imaginations to describe what their chosen Corps members might have seen, done, or felt on a given day. Did they experience fear? bravery? uncertainty? exhaustion? Students can choose members of the army crew, civilians such as York or Sacagawea--or even Seaman the dog! Remind them to consider characteristics such as age, rank, and experience. To view profiles of the Corps, visit www.pbs.org/lewisandclark/inside/id x_corp.html and www.nps.gov/jeff/ LewisClark2/Activities&Kids/Corps Profiles/CorpsProfiles.htm

Flora and Fauna

Since Lewis and Clark had no cameras, they recorded everything they saw along their journey with sketches and detailed journal entries. Visit www.lewis-clark.org, www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/2000/bmam/bmam.htm, www.sierraclub.org/lewisand clark/species/index.asp, www.acnat sci.org/research/biodiv/lewis&clark/i ndex.html, and www.nwrac.org Ilewis-clark/oregonian/176.html to read some of these entries and find out about the natural history of the flora and fauna found on the expedition. After sharing this information with students, have them each choose a mammal or bird--from where Lewis and Clark explored or from the vicinity of your school--and sketch it on graph paper using colored pencils. Have them pay special attention to the scale of their drawings. Then ask students to write letters describing to President Jefferson--who has never before seen the creatures--what they have found. Students can exchange letters and try to guess the creatures' identities from the descriptions their classmates have written. Display the sketches and letters along with students' invented names for their "specimens." For more advanced students, have them add the proper scientific names and classifications to their flora and fauna pages.

Speaking the Language

To reinforce some of the challenges Lewis and Clark faced while traveling through unknown lands, invite students to try communicating in new and different ways. Begin by asking them to make a list of the phrases that they think they would need when meeting new people, such as "Hello," "I come in peace," or "Help me." Then divide the class into small groups. Have each group devise a form of communication they could use to express themselves to someone they can't understand or who can't understand them. Have the groups come together and try to identify what the others

are trying to say to them. Which ideas were the easiest to convey? Which were the most difficult? Visit www.native web.org/host ed/language/Lakota_hear.htm to listen to one of the languages that Lewis and Clark heard while on their journey. Have students try to learn some words, then ask for volunteers to speak to the class. Can anyone understand what they are trying to say?

RELATED ARTICLE: Answer Guides

CyberHunt Answers:

1. Any of these: to map the rivers, make friends with natives, open the West to trade, look for a Northwest Passage to the ocean.

2. Three of these: pocket mirrors, sewing needles, scissors, thread, ribbons, combs, handkerchiefs, cloth, tobacco, tomahawk pipes, knives, kettles, face paint, beads.

3. Discovery. George Shannon. Lewis's Newfoundland dog.

4. Any of these: She dug roots and food, showed them how to make clothes and shoes, saved papers from a capsized canoe.