Nearly 200 Years Later If Lewis and Clark were making the trip today, their journals would be on a laptop and their Internet map coordinates would be checked using a GPS hand-held unit. Lewis and Clark, with minimal advance education and training, classified and drew detailed pictures of 300 flora and fauna never before seen by white American citizens living east of the Mississippi River. They practiced anthropology skills by recording details of Indian tribes they met, including basic language structure. They monitored weather patterns, described geological formations and recorded all these data and drew their maps using quill pens that had to be dipped in ink for every other word using notebooks that had to be safely protected from canoe spills. And, yes, they really needed Spell Checker, relying instead on phonetics since there was no standardized dictionary readily available at the time.
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Students' pictures and full names will not be included. The project is open to public or private elementary, middle and high schools alike as well as home-schooled students. You and your students are encouraged to use today's multimedia tools as well as local community experts in preparing your submission. Be sure to include multiple cultural perspectives, particularly local Native Americans. Those critical 16 were asked to return the keelboat to St. Louis the next spring and bring back the Expedition's first records and specimens, including four live animals, to an excited Jefferson.