LEWIS AND CLARK MEET GRIZZLY BEARS
THEME
Lewis and Clark wrote many exciting stories about grizzly bears
in their journals. Grizzly bears were the largest and most dangerous
animals they encountered in all of their travels. A few grizzly
bears still live in the west today, but not nearly as many as when
Lewis and Clark first saw them long ago.
GOALS
- To emphasize the scientific nature of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
- To call attention to the dangers of the trip.
- To encourage awareness of endangered or threatened wild animal
species.
OBJECTIVES
When this activity is completed, students will be able to:
- Describe the main characteristics of grizzly bears.
- Tell why Lewis and Clark wrote about grizzly bears in their
journals.
- Name two things naturalists have learned about grizzly bears
since Lewis and Clark first saw them long ago.
ADVANCE PREPARATION
- Preview the contents and teachings aids for this unit by clicking
on the following capitalized titles: The INTRODUCTION
provides an overview of the unit's contents and organization.
The SYNOPSIS of the Lewis and Clark
Expedition briefly sums up the historical background on which
this lesson plan (LEWIS AND CLARK MEET GRIZZLY BEARS) is based.
Members of the Corps of Discovery had many dangerous encounters
with enormous grizzly bears. Click on JOURNAL
ENTRIES "C" to read about one of those encounters.
Three follow-up activities are offered as follows: HOW
TALL IS A GRIZZLY BEAR? The immense size of grizzly bears
is emphasized when students measure themselves against a poster
of a life-size grizzly. JOINTED
GRIZZLY BEAR is a paper-craft activity in which students cut,
fold, and assemble model grizzly bears with moveable arms and
legs. ACTION RHYMES give
students a chance to sing and act out simple rhymes about bears.
All of these activities provide opportunities to teach nature
conservation as well as Lewis and Clark themes.
Be sure to look over the supplemental materials also. For suggestions
about choosing Lewis and Clark resources, click on LEWIS
AND CLARK RESOURCE MATERIALS. For additional information,
see TEACHING AIDS "C".
The GLOSSARY
AND PRONUNCIATION GUIDE provides assistance with names and
terms associated with the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Finally,
the EDUCATIONAL STANDARDS AND MULTIPLE-INTELLIGENCES
CHARTS A, B, C, D contain specific educational standards and
multiple-intelligences goals fulfilled by this unit.
- Before beginning the lesson, refresh your memory about the Lewis
and Clark Expedition by reading the brief SYNOPSIS.
Discuss the information with the class.
IMPLEMENTATION
Background Story
Before Lewis and Clark left on their journey, President Jefferson
told them to look for animals they had never seen before. One of
the animals they were most eager to meet for the first time were
grizzly bears. Indian friends told them that grizzly bears were
large, fierce, and very dangerous, but Lewis and Clark really didn't
believe it. They probably had seen pictures of grizzly bears drawn
by artists who had never actually observed one either.
There were no cameras in those days, and the bears in the drawings
did not look very ferocious. (To view one of these early grizzly
bear drawings, click on:
http://www.senate.gov/~dorgan/lewis_and_clark/bears.html.
What do you think the animal in the picture looks like?)
When the expedition members actually met grizzly bears, however,
they found that everything the Indians told them was true. The Lewis
and Clark journals contain many stories of dangerous encounters
with grizzly bears including the following one.
One day on the trail, some of the men saw a big grizzly bear asleep
in the woods. They decided to shoot it. There were no stores on
the trail where they could buy food and clothing, so the captains
and their men hunted animals along the way. They ate the meat of
the animals and used the fur and hides for clothing. Six hunters
sneaked up on the bear and fired their guns at it. They were very
surprised, however, when the bear jumped up and chased them, even
after it had been shot.
The hunters ran to the river as fast as they could go. Two of the
men scrambled into a canoe and paddled away from the bear. The other
hunters jumped in the river and swam away as fast as they could,
but the bear jumped in after them. It was just about to catch one
of them when another soldier with a rifle came running up to the
river. He shot the bear again and finally killed it. After that,
everyone knew the Indian hunters had been telling the truth about
grizzly bears--they were very dangerous animals when people hunted
or bothered them. (For the original journal excerpt click on JOURNAL
ENTRY "C"/CHASED BY A GRIZZLY BEAR.)
After Captain Lewis saw a grizzly bear with his own eyes, he did
what President Jefferson asked him to do. He wrote down everything
he had learned about grizzly bears in a special notebook.
CONCLUSION
Today, people who study animals have learned a great deal more about
grizzly bears than Lewis and Clark knew. For instance, even though
grizzly bears are fierce, they hardly ever harm people unless someone
frightens them or tries to shoot them. Although they sometimes kill
other animals for food, most of the time grizzly bears eat plants
such as berries, flowers, roots, and grass.
Long ago lots of grizzly bears lived in America. Today, only a few
are left. Most of them live in parks or forests where people can't
hurt them. It is very exciting to see a real grizzly bear, but people
should never try to feed bears or get close to them. They should
only look at them from a long distance away. Another safe way to
see grizzly bears is by looking for picture books about them in
your school library. (For additional information about grizzly bears
and what is being done to protect them, click on TEACHING
AIDS "C" and scroll to "Grizzly Bear Protection."
FOLLOW-UP ACTIVITIES
Follow up this Lesson Plan (LEWIS AND CLARK MEET GRIZZLY BEARS)
with one or more of the related activities listed both in the INTRODUCTION
and in the Lesson Plan under ADVANCE
PREPARATION, number 1.
|
