Walk in the footsteps of Lewis and Clark as they discover the wonders, beauty, and dangers of the American frontier. After gaining background knowledge about Thomas Jefferson and the Louisiana Purchase, young explorers use primary sources and maps to trace Lewis and Clark’s journey, discover the hazards faced by the explorers, and detail some of their discoveries. Activities and extension ideas are also included in the resource.

Concepts

the lewis and clark expedition, the louisiana purchase, the american frontier, thomas jefferson, landform maps

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Additional Tags

lewis and clark, louisiana purchase, social studies

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Instructional Ideas

• Incorporate a mapping activity to give the class the opportunity to work with different variations of maps
• Extend the activity by doing a role-play with the class acting as Lewis and Clark on their own expedition
• Show a clip from the PBS documentary of Lewis and Clark leading up to the first activity

Classroom Considerations

• Limit group sizes to no more than three 

Pros

• Teacher's guide contains printable maps
• Print out PDF diary entries and distribute to students
  
• Activities are specific and easy to set up

Cons

• None