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Teach PA History
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Plants for Pleasure and Profit
Equipment & Supplies
  • 3-4 samples of plants or plant products that have economic value, for example potato, peanut, mint, and hemp rope. prepare signs that say "Native Americans," "settlers," "scientists," "investors," and "gardeners."
Procedures

Day 1


1. Class preparation: Prior to class bring in 3 or 4 plant or plant products that have economic value. For example, you could bring in a potato, peanut, mint, and hemp rope. Place these in the front of the classroom. Then print pictures of the Lewis and Clark plants and hang them around the room. For current, quality photo images of the types of plants Lewis and Clark discovered on their journey select images from Lewis and Clark Herbarium: Plants collected by Lewis and Clark, a website created by University of Maryland and The Academy of Natural Sciences. Next print Source 2: Plants and Quotes of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, 36 black-and-white pictures of Lewis and Clark plants. Underneath each picture is a quote from one of the explorers about the plant. Print out a picture of a different type of plant for each of your students. You will use these later.



2. Begin your lesson by telling the students that you have 4 plants in the front of the room that are useful to people. Ask students to explain how they are useful (food, clothing, medicine, flavoring, etc.).



3. Explain that many useful plants were discovered by explorers over the centuries. Often explorers visit with people who know how to use a local (indigenous) plant and share that knowledge with visitors. For example– [You can point to the potato displayed at the front of your classroom.]–the potato grew in South America originally, where the Incas learned to use it. When Spanish explorers came to South America in the 1500's, they learned of the potato, brought it back to Europe, and eventually, the potato spread around the world.



In 1803, our nation had an opportunity to discover the usefulness of plants they had never seen before. Our third president, Thomas Jefferson purchased some land from the leader of France, Napoleon Bonaparte, and doubled the size of our country. This sale is known as the Louisiana Purchase. This land was unknown western territory to most Europeans. So Jefferson sent a group of people, led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, to explore it. On their journey he asked them to look for new types of plants and animals that might be useful to Americans. To prepare, Lewis went to scientists in Philadelphia to learn how to identify new plants and preserve them. Some of the preserved plants still exist today at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia.



Today students will use primary sources (pictures of samples from the Lewis and Clark herbarium) and secondary sources (modern drawings and photographs) to learn about some of the plants found on the Lewis and Clark expedition. Then they will predict ways that these plants might prove useful to people.



4. Tell the students that they will be divided in five groups. Each group will represent a different type of person: Native American, settler, scientist, investor, and gardener. (Hang the group labels on the board). Discuss the objectives of each group. If given a plant, for what would each group look to use it? Some answers might include:



  • Native American: different types of food (nutritional value or for taste), medicine, clothing, weaving (clothing, basket-making), entertainment

  • Settler: food (nutrition), medicine, shelter, aesthetics (beauty)

  • Scientist: unique properties in the plant to study (What makes up the plant?)

  • Investor: to find products that they could sell for profit

  • Gardener: food, to flavor food (herbs), aesthetics (beauty), to draw near or repel certain insects or animals.


Each group will study the list of plants found by Lewis and Clark and rank order them in importance to that group. Model for the group how you might rate one of the plants based on your group's objectives.



5. Divide the students into groups and pass out copies of Worksheet 1: Plants for Pleasure and Profit and Worksheet 2: Plants Found by Lewis and Clark, a chart with the name and description of discovered plants. Print out the corresponding pictures of the plants from Source 1: Lewis and Clark Herbarium: Plants collected by Lewis and Clark and copy so each group has a set.



6. Students should work in their groups to complete Worksheet 1: Plants for Pleasure and Profit. Each group should discuss which plants would be most important to them (i.e. plants that fit most closely with their goals as a group), and which plants would be least useful. Next to each plant they list on the worksheet, they should provide a reason why they felt it deserved that position on the list.



7. Ask each group to share their list with the class. Discuss similarities and differences between the lists. Students should conclude that different goals can change your perspective on things.



Homework assignment:



1. Each student will write a letter to other members of their group (i.e. "Dear fellow gardeners,") convincing them of the most important and least important plants on their list.


Each student will take home one of the images you previously printed off from Source 2: Plants and Quotes of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. They are to color in the plant and read the quote at the bottom. If the quote is too challenging for the student to read verbatim, that is fine. Simply reinforce that these quotes came from the men who went on the Lewis and Clark journey. They are discovering and commenting on the plant as they travel. After the students turn in the Lewis and Clark plant images, you might want to consider displaying them in your classroom or placing them in a book and creating a "picture diary" for the class.



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