Simulating the Corps of Discovery

Why simulate history? And what kind of history should we simulate in fourth and fifth grade? We do a number of simulations in Cerrito, big and small, and they serve to ground abstract historical events in lived experiences. Sure, the Berkeley Harbor isn’t the Missouri River, but the canoes we paddled aren’t all that much different from the pirogues they used on the expedition. They might not have had Zebco fishing reels back then, but they were baiting hooks and staring off into the open horizon waiting for a bite. They cached tobacco and dried meat in 1805 and had to find it a year later; I cached Skittles in 2016 they had to find with a compass. The journey of Lewis and Clark was an adventure that a child can appreciate. I don’t mean to glorify the opening of the West and all that meant for Native people, the animals, and the environment, but today’s experience is a nice stepping stone toward developing perspective through learning about and imagining historical events.