The Naturalists Notebook: The Lewis and Clark Expedition

 

In 1804 Meriwether Lewis and William Clark embarked on the now legendary expedition that explored and cataloged for the first time what would become the future territory of these United States. Lewis and Clark undertook this expedition at the behest of American President Thomas Jefferson. One objective of the journey was to learn about the geography, peoples (Native Americans and others), animals and plants they encountered along the way.  In order to document their findings both men kept journals.  What follows are some pages from Meriwether Lewis’ journal. 

 

 

These pages chronicle Lewis’ journey. They are important because they document the discovery of a part of the world that had not been seen by the vast majority of what was considered the civilized world. They help us to understand what these men, Lewis in particular, experienced and learned. From Lewis we learn about the various species encountered, the native peoples and others occupying these territories. We also learn about some of the challenges the explorers were met with.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Frinq ePortfolio assignment is asking you to do much the same thing as Lewis did. As you enter the unchartered territory of your own education this assignment calls upon you to document that journey of discovery. Although you have probably been involved in the process of education since you were a small child, attending various schools along the way, college is different than what you have experienced before. Before college your education was mandated by law. Now you are invited, as were Lewis and Clark, to explore new territory, a territory that may be somewhat strange and unfamiliar to you. Like Lewis and Clark, you will be asked to collect artifacts and write about them, analyze them in much the same way as Lewis and Clark did for the purpose of informing the civilized world about your college education journey. Like Lewis you will no doubt encounter challenges and triumphs along the way. You will certainly learn. If you begin to see the ePortfolio asisignment in this light, perhaps you can begin to see it as a worthy endeavor, which is instructive to you and others, instead of just another hoop you have to jump through. 

 

The Artists Notebook

 

Another way to look at this process is to envision it as an artists notebook. What follows are some notebooks or journals from famous artists. The artifacts these artists encountered may be things they see or encounter in their everyday lives. However, it is their vision of the meaning of things that makes them artists.

It is marvelous to have access to these artist's journals in order to understand the journeys of these unique and gifted people. Truly any mind is a unique and interesting place if it is coaxed into exposing itself. As with writing, creating a compelling portfolio is a process of becoming aware of your audience, of helping them to see what you see.  Perhaps you are a musician. What can you do with music to express your experience? Maybe you are more of an engineering type and feel your interactions with the world are quite straightforward and logical? How can you bring engineering into your expression of your learning? Can you parse each goal in terms of engineering? Can you provide imagery to demonstrate your love of engineering? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kurt Cobain

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Frida Kahlo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Andrea Joseph

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Leonardo D'Vinci