During Day of Discovery, our third grade boys experienced the Lewis and Clark Expedition and participated in some of the activities that the Corps of Discovery may have gone through as they traveled across the continent.

The day started with Gilman School Head Henry Smyth channeling President Jefferson and sending the expedition off on their journey. (You can watch his instructions to the Corps here.) Each group of explorers were given a Sacajawea (played by parents) to help guide them through the day.

At five locations scattered throughout the campus, station leaders shared quotes and stories from the Lewis and Clark Journals to set the scene for the activity. The stations were:

Tracking – In the outdoor classroom, the boys identified animal footprints and read information from the original expedition journals about the animals encountered on the journey before writing in their own journal describing the story they saw in the footprints.

Shelter Building – At the practice football field, they heard a first-person account of a violent hailstorm that proved difficult for the Corps of Discovery. Boys were provided with a tarp and rope and gathered found materials to build a shelter. The shelter, which had to be large enough to fit all of the team members, which were tested with hail (simulated by wiffle and ping pong balls) and rain (super soakers).

Rocky Mountain Climb – The boys envisioned the Alpine Tower to be the Rocky Mountains and participated “Challenge by Choice” by climbing the tower.

Orienteering – In front of Carey Hall, the boys used compasses to locate various objects used by the expedition.

Crafts – In their classrooms, boys created three crafts common to the expedition. They made candles, created bear claw necklaces, and crafted medicine bags in a Native American style.

During their expedition, the boys also played Prison Break, a period game referred to in the journals. The day ended with a campfire of music and storytelling.

~Contributed by Third Grade Teacher Jennifer Reiter