Preparing for The Lewis and Clark Expedition

Summary
The lesson contains introductory information about the Expedition led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark from 1804-1807. The mission of the group was to explore lands acquired by the Louisiana Purchase.

Objectives
• Obtain basic information about the Lewis and Clark Expedition by reading the material that is included, and participating in a group discussion.

• Use context clues to write their own definitions of several vocabulary words used in the piece. They will then write a dictionary definition of each word.

• Write a subtitle for each paragraph, which expresses the main idea of that section.

• Pose as a member of the Corps of Discovery and write an imaginary letter, in standard ?friendly letter? format, to friends at home expressing their feelings at the onset of the trip.

Suggested Grades
4th Grade
5th Grade
6th Grade

Excerpt
In 1803, President Jefferson negotiated a deal with Napoleon Bonaparte, the leader of France. The US purchased a huge amount of land known as the Louisiana Territory. Jefferson paid about $23 million dollars for 828,000 square miles that included parts of 15 present-day states. The President was motivated to make the purchase out of concern that Spain or France might gain power over the port of New Orleans. Because that city controlled access to the mouth of the Mississippi River, it was vital to America?s future to have New Orleans and surrounding areas as part of the United States.

Continued...