Days 42 & 43

October 17, 2011 Days 42 & 43

Sophie’s Blog: What did you do last week? Write about all the cool, fun stuff and then write 5 good sentences at the end describing what you learned doing the 5 crosswords--*credit for one day school!

Last week I went to Connecticut to visit Grandpa Mike and Grandma Linda. I can’t say a whole lot because Grandma has a mug that says, “What happens at Grandma’s house, stays at Grandma’s house!” But I’ll tell you some of the things that I did!!! On Monday (Columbus day) We went to a Dinosaur park that we go to every time we’re there. It was extra special this time because it was the parks tenth birthday and they had a circus and face painting and cupcakes and a bouncy house! I volunteered to go up on the stage during the circus show and I learned how to spin a plate on a stick. It was super fun! On Tuesday we played with our friend from across the street we went to chucke-cheese and then to a wicked cool playground. On Wednesday we spent the day with Grandma and we went to the aquarium. We played banana grams later. Thursday Grandpa took us to a cool Children’s museum. It was really fun. Every morning while I was in Connecticut I

6 x 6 for Sixth Grade using The Lewis and Clark Expedition, a Scholastic True Book

Link to book

Vocabulary

1. Superintendent: A manager of an organization

2. Pirogues: dugout canoes made from large logs

3. The Rocky Mountains: The chief mountain system in North America, extending from central New Mexico to N Alaska. Highest peak, Mount McKinley, 20,300 feet (6187 meters)

4. The Great Plains: The Great Plains are a broad expanse of flat land, much of it covered in prairie, steppe and grassland, which lies west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains

5. Northwest Passage: The Northwest Passage is a sea route through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways amidst the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans

6. Mississippi River: The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America.[3][4] Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for 2,320 miles (3,730 km)[5] to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico

Sentences

1. After the great expedition and the good relationships with the Natives, William Clark was named superintendent of the Native Affairs.

2. The most common boat that Lewis and Clark used while surveying rivers were called pirogues, or dugout canoes.

3. The Northwest Passage is fiction, the main reason it would never have worked is because of the Rocky Mountains, west of the Mississippi River.

4. Most of the new land that Lewis and Clark traveled threw are now known as the Great Plains, where they found most of the buffalo.

5. Thomas Jefferson wanted Lewis and Clark to find the Northwest Passage because it would get America better trading deals.

6. Surveying up the Mississippi River was one of the hardest times during the expedition; they probably could’ve used Sacajawea then!

Details/ Facts

1. The Sioux tribe of Native Americans were the hardest for Lewis and Clark to make peace with

2. William Clark was awarded the military rank of brigadier general

3. On May 14, 1804, Lewis, Clark, and the Corps boarded a 55-foot keelboat and set off down the Mississippi River

4. The inexperienced heat of the Western plains made some men very sick, including William Clark

5. There is a wall painting in Washington D.C’s Capitol Building of Lewis and Clark looking at a Native Village

6. On August 31, 2004 the U.S postage stamps of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark were released celebrating the 200 year anniversary of the expedition.

Questions

1. What were some of the qualities and skills that made Meriwether Lewis a good explorer and leader? A: Lewis grew up in the wilderness and he knew how to survive in it, Lewis was also Thomas Jefferson’s secretary and Jefferson trusted him

2. What were some of the qualities and skills that made William Clark a good explorer and leader? A: Clark grew up in the wilderness as well; he was very smart and a great surveyor which was exactly what Lewis wanted in a co-leader

3. Why are Lewis & Clark’s journals so important? Write 3 good sentences with 3 reasons. A: Lewis and Clark knew their journals would be important to us now learning about their expedition; if they had not written in those journals every day we wouldn’t know what happened to them on their expedition. It was also good for Lewis and Clark to write in there journals to tell the next generation of people exactly where to go and what be aware of. It was good for Lewis and Clark to write in there journals to see how they felt on their journey.

4. What souvenir did Lewis send to President Jefferson? A: A magpie bird

5. How do Lewis and Clark’s journals describe Sacagawea? A: A Shoshone woman showed courage and strength to their expedition, later they said they couldn’t have survived the expedition without her,

6. What were some of the dangers the expedition faced? List 5. A: grizzly bears, unbearable heat, some native tribe incidents, storms, and arrows getting shot at you in the butt (which happened twice)

7. List the names of the Native American tribes the expedition interacted with:

8. How many square kilometers was the Louisiana Purchase? A: 2,123,800 square kilometers

9. How many miles (approximately) travel per day? About how many hours a mile did they travel? A: 8.5 miles per day math: 2 ½ years = 912 days 8,000 miles / 912 = 8.704 miles per day ; approximately 1 mile per hour. I figured this out by assuming they would travel approximately 8.5 miles in 8 hours. When I say average, I know that some days they would go faster than normal and some days they would go slower than normal like if you were on a river or not. Other factors to consider would be seasons, injuries, how much cargo you are carrying, terrains, horses.

10. What is the name of the mountain in Oregon that Lewis and Clark climbed to see the Pacific Ocean? A: Beacon Rock

11. What happened at Bitterroot Mountains on the journey home? A: Lewis decided to split the group in half and take different routes so they could survey more land

12. Where did Lewis and Clark meet back up for the last leg of the journey? A: Missouri River

13. How many acres were Lewis and Clark given after their expedition? A: 1,600

14. How many miles did Lewis and Clark travel on their expedition? A: 8,000

15. How many miles per day did Lewis and Clark average in 2 and a half years? A: Approximately 8.5

16. Who (Lewis or Clark) drew maps in his journals? A: Clark

17. Who (Lewis or Clark) kept some of the small animals they identified as pets? A: Lewis

18. On what date did the expedition arrive back in St. Louis? A: September 23^rd, 1806