LEARN NC

K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

Lewis and Clark: Facing challenges—real and imagined

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/lessons/06/g35/challenges.html

A lesson plan for Grade 3 and 5 Information Skills, English Language Arts, and Social Studies

Provider: National Geographic

About this resource

Appropriate grades
3 and 5
Subjects
guidance (life skills), social studies (geography, United States history)
Provider
National Geographic

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In this lesson from Xpeditions, students will consider how they perceive geographic features and obstacles, and how the Lewis and Clark expedition members might have done so. The mental maps of expedition members could not prepare them for what lay ahead; nonetheless, they met and overcame numerous challenges. If possible, begin the lesson before your students see the large-format film Lewis and Clark: Great Journey West, and finish it after they have seen the movie.

Students will:

  • describe and draw their perceptions of geographic features
  • consider what Lewis and Clark might have known or thought about the geography of the West before they began their journey
  • compare and contrast perceived challenges with real challenges
  • realize that perceptions can change based on experience
  • think about ways people overcome obstacles

North Carolina Curriculum Alignment

Information Skills (2000)

Grade 3

  • Goal 3: The learner will RELATE ideas and information to life experiences.
    • Objective 3.02: Collect and compare information about diverse cultures, environments, and peoples.
    • Objective 3.05: Describe how information and ideas are influenced by prior knowledge, personal experience, and social, cultural, political, economic, and historical events.

Grade 5

  • Goal 3: The learner will RELATE ideas and information to life experiences.
    • Objective 3.02: Collect and compare information about diverse cultures, environments, and peoples.
    • Objective 3.05: Describe how information and ideas are influenced by prior knowledge, personal experience, and social, cultural, political, economic, and historical events.

Social Studies (2003)

Grade 3

  • Goal 4: The learner will explain geographic concepts and the relationship between people and geography in real life situations.

Grade 5

  • Goal 1: The learner will apply key geographic concepts to the United States and other countries of North America.
    • Objective 1.01: Describe the absolute and relative location of major landforms, bodies of water,and natural resources in the United States and other countries of North America.
  • Goal 4: The learner will trace key developments in United States history and describe their impact on the land and people of the nation and its neighboring countries.
    • Objective 4.02: Explain when, where, why, and how groups of people settled in different regions of the United States.

English Language Arts (2004)

Grade 3

  • Goal 3: The learner will make connections through the use of oral language, written language, and media and technology.
    • Objective 3.02: Identify and discuss similarities and differences in events, characters, concepts and ideas within and across selections and support them by referencing the text.
    • Objective 3.03: Use text and own experiences to verify facts, concepts, and ideas.

Grade 5

  • Goal 3: The learner will make connections through the use of oral language, written language, and media and technology.
    • Objective 3.02: Make connections between texts by recognizing similarities and differences based on a common lesson, theme, or message.
    • Objective 3.03: Justify evaluation of characters and events from different selections by citing supporting evidence in the text(s).