The Expedition of Lewis and Clark

1804-1806

In February 28, 1803, President Thomas Jefferson won approval from Congress for a visionary project, an endeavor that would become one of America’s greatest stories of adventure.

$2500 was appropriated to fund a small expeditionary group, whose mission was to explore the uncharted West purchased from France in the Louisiana Purchase. Jefferson called the group the Corps of Discovery. Jefferson’s secretary, Meriwether Lewis, and Lewis’ friend, William Clark, would lead it.

Over the next four years, the Corps of Discovery would travel thousands of miles, experiencing lands, rivers and peoples that no Americans ever had before.

Your Task:

Part 1: Take the pretest and turn it in: What do you already know? What don’t you know?

Open a blank document OR take out a piece of paper to write on.

Part 2: Before Lewis and Clark left on their journey, they had to assemble supplies. A sample of the supplies that they brought is listed on the following website: http://www.pbs.org/lewisandclark/inside/idx_equ.html

§ Find three things that you can’t identify AND identify them.

§ Choose three other things and explain why they were needed.

§ What does this list tell you about the expedition, what they hoped to find or accomplish? What were its goals? (a healthy paragraph – at least)

Part 3: Print out the information sheet. You will need to use the games, resource sites, and your own research to find the answers to the questions.

Part 4: Play the games below and research. Research the expedition. Answer the questions.

Resources: www.nationalgeographic.com/west/

www.pbs.org/lewisandclark/into/index.html

http://www.lewis-clark.org/

http://www.edgate.com/lewisandclark/

Part 5: Go to the following webpage: www.quia.com/cb/26263.html and play the single person trivia challenge. IMPORTANT: When you answer the second to last question, print the page. Then complete the test AND print the game over screen. Turn in these print offs along with the information sheet.

Part 6: Choose one member of the expedition you want to learn more about using the PBS website: http://www.pbs.org/lewisandclark/inside/idx_corp.html. Create a creative page of interesting facts and figures about the person.

Part 7: Using the information in your textbook and the websites you explored, answer the question “How did the Lewis and Clark expedition change the United States?”.