William Clark Lesson Plans

There are so many wonderful directions you can go with a study on William!  Our top recommendation is to study the Lewis and Clark Expedition.  We know so much about what we do today about their Expedition due to the journals that Clark and others kept along the journey so it’s another great opportunity to start a nature journal if you don’t already have one.  Here are a few ideas to get you started in those areas!

Don't have the letter yet?  You can grab the snail mail version here or the digital version here!

To get your free downloads go here!

For All Ages

 Movie/Video

Voice of America’s “Lewis and Clark: An American Adventure Story”

Visit

Resources

Books

Preschool

Elementary

 Middle School/High School & Beyond

One Week with William Clark

Day 1: Learn about William Clark

  • Read the Heritage Letter from William Clark
  • Read books about the Lewis and Clark Expedition (depending on how many books you have available or the length of the books you could space them out over the week)
  • Watch the Voice of America’s “Lewis and Clark: An American Adventure Story” (linked above under Videos)

Day 2: Trail Map

  • Visit the NPS Lewis and Clark Trail Map from Space to follow the journey.
  • See if you can find some of the locations mentioned in the letter from William Clark.
  • Which location is closest to you? Are there any you have visited or plan to visit soon?

Day 3: Scientific Discovery

Over 170 plants and 120 animals that were new to the members of the expedition were discovered along the trail, learn about some of them using the following interactive maps:

Plants

Animals

Day 4: Mapping in the 1800s

  • Watch Hart Square Village’s video “Surveying Land in the 1800’s to learn how land was surveyed in the 1800’s.
  • Visit a local park or go in your own yard to practice surveying…use modern tools like yardsticks and measuring tapes or come up with your own measuring devices to use to map out an area.

Day 5: Nature Journaling

The artifact accompanying the William Clark letter is a copy of his journal page with a drawing and description of the White Salmon Trout.  Find an animal or insect in your yard or at a local park to draw and write a description of, or draw and write about one of your state symbols…your state bird, reptile, mammal, flower, tree, etc. using your nature journal or the template included in our free downloads for the William Clark letter.  Here’s a website with all the state symbols listed: statesymbolsusa.org

 

 

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