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Overview:
In this lesson, students will consider whether they have a good sense of direction and whether they are able to navigate using mental maps versus needing equipment. They will read about the Lewis and Clark expedition to find out what skills, abilities, and navigation equipment those early explorers needed, and compare that voyage with a fictitious modern-day journey on foot across the Rocky Mountains.
Connections to the Curriculum:
Geography, U.S. history, language arts
Connections to the National Geography Standards:
Standard 2: "How to use mental maps to organize information about people, places, and environments in a spatial context"
Time:
Two to three hours
Materials Required:
- Computer with Internet access
- Writing materials
Objectives:
Students will
- discuss their experiences with trying to find their way using mental maps and a sense of direction;
- read the Lewis and Clark online feature, and list the skills, abilities, and equipment the expedition members needed to use on their journey;
- list the skills, abilities, and equipment they would need to successfully find their way on foot through the Rocky Mountains; and
- discuss and write paragraphs comparing the navigational abilities and equipment used on the Lewis and Clark expedition with those available today.
Geographic Skills:
Acquiring Geographic Information
Answering Geographic Questions
Analyzing Geographic Information
S u g g e s t e d P r o c e d u r e
Opening:
Have students discuss or write answers to the question "Do people have natural ways of figuring out how to get somewhere?" Ask them to explain their responses with examples from their personal experiences. For example, do they feel that they have a good sense of direction? Have they ever been able to find their way somewhere using "mental maps" that existed only in their mind, or do they always need to use paper maps or have someone else show them the way?
Development:
Have students browse National Geographic's Lewis and Clark feature to find out about an episode of United States history in which it was very important to have excellent navigation skills.
Ask students to list the ways in which the people involved in this journey used their knowledge of direction and navigation to reach their goals. They should have two lists: one listing the skills and abilities that people needed to have, and one listing the navigational equipment they used to find their way.
Ask students to make lists they would use if they were planning their own journeys on foot across the Rocky Mountains or another relatively unpopulated part of the country. Have them list the skills and abilities they would need to have and the equipment they would take.
Students can research modern navigational gear to see what equipment would be available to them, but make sure they pay close attention to the skills they would need to have in order to use this equipment and list those skills in the "skills" category. One place to search for equipment is at REI Online (click on "navigation").
Closing:
Ask students whether they think members of the Lewis and Clark expedition would have needed to have good senses of direction, or whether they could have relied on their navigational tools. Then ask them whether they think it is easier today than 200 years ago to get away with having a poor sense of direction. What evidence do they have to support their answers?
Suggested Student Assessment:
Ask students to look at their lists and write paragraphs answering the question, "What are the similarities and differences between Lewis and Clark's navigational skills and equipment and the skills and equipment we would use today?"
Extending the Lesson:
Have students attempt to draw maps of the Lewis and Clark expedition from memory ("mental maps"). Then have them compare these maps to the actual maps of the journey. How close did they get? Was this an easy or difficult task? What clues did they use to help them?
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