Lesson Overview
In this lesson, students explore the Lewis and Clark Expedition as a major turning point in U.S. expansion. Through short documentary videos, mapping, source analysis, and role-based debate, they connect the journey's motivations, technologies, and human interactions to broader themes of policy, geography, and consequence. By the end, learners can articulate how this expedition reshaped America's identity, its land, and its relationships with those who already lived in the West.
Essential Question
How did exploration and government policy during the Lewis and Clark expedition expand America's knowledge and what costs and benefits did it bring to the people and land of the West?
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- 4.3.CO Compare the motivations for and reactions to various expeditions into the Western territories.
- 4.3.CE Analyze the effects of government policies in promoting United States territorial expansion into the west.
- 4.3.P Analyze the role of technology and the environmental impact during the period of Westward Expansion.
- 4.3.CC Recognize patterns of continuity and change in the experiences of Native Americans and Spanish-speaking people as the U.S. expanded westward.
- 4.3.E Analyze multiple perspectives of early westward expansion, including the addition of slave and free territories and states.
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