Artifact Bag

Artifact: A handmade object, as a tool, or the remains of one, as a shard of pottery, characteristic of an earlier time or cultural stage

Today we explored deeper into the topics we taught the fifth graders. In order to do this, we each brought in our own artifact bag with items that represent the period of time we taught. My group, group 2, combined with group 4. We each took a turn taking the items out of our bags and passing them around. After we each got a chance to look at the items, we guessed what period of time that person covered.

Now I am going to open my artifact bag and show the items that I included in it!

1. Lewis and Clark were the two main explorers on the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Without them, the results of the expedition might not be the same as we now know it.

2. This dream catcher represents Sacagawea. She was a Shoshone Indian that traveled with Lewis and Clark on their expedition. Dream catchers were originally made my American Indians. This one in particular is from the Navajo Reservation in Arizona.

3. These postcards are from states in the west such as Arizona, New Mexico and California. Before these were states, it was the land that Lewis and Clark traveled on during their expedition.

4. The Lewis and Clark Expedition was commonly referred to as the Corps of Discovery.

From these artifacts, we can tell that this is from the time period of the Lewis and Clark Expedition! For more information, there is a website you can use and there is also a great book on this topic!

How We Crossed the West: The Adventures of Lewis & Clark

By: Rosalyn Schanzer

“The 40 volumes of the diaries of Lewis and Clark were condensed into this one book that focuses on the excitement and adventures of the expedition. Information from letters, notebooks, and the many journals was used to describe this trek of 7,689 miles. The tale is made even richer by numerous drawings adding detail.”

Thanks for being archeologists with me!