This site explores the Apollo 11 mission to the moon, Arctic wildlife, migratory birds, stars and black holes, sky watching, the Galapagos Islands, invasive species, living fossils of the Bahamian sea floor, views of earth, milestones of flight, shade grown coffee, species of Indian River Lagoon, the Chandra X-ray Observatory, polio, and portraits of famous scientists, inventors, and engineers.

This section is intended to supplement the curricula, textbooks, and materials you currently use for lessons on the civil rights struggle. The teacher-developed resources in the section will enhance the classroom experience for both you and your students.
Explore the variety of teaching strategies and guidelines, lesson plans and document-based questions (DBQs), and information about museum objects and other primary sources. You might get started by showing the video, in which Smithsonian curators examine a photograph of civil rights leader Medgar Evers. You can then help the students examine other historic photographs.

This section is intended to supplement the curricula, textbooks, and materials you currently use for lessons on the civil rights struggle. The teacher-developed resources in the section will enhance the classroom experience for both you and your students.
Explore the variety of teaching strategies and guidelines, lesson plans and document-based questions (DBQs), and information about museum objects and other primary sources. You might get started by showing the video, in which Smithsonian curators examine a photograph of civil rights leader Medgar Evers. You can then help the students examine other historic photographs.

This section is intended to supplement the curricula, textbooks, and materials you currently use for lessons on the colonial period. The teacher-developed resources in the section will enhance the classroom experience for both you and your students. The lesson plans and DBQs are organized by grade level. The DBQ primary sources can stand alone in DBQ exercises. Images of the primary sources are independent of any extensive explanatory information, so that the images can be used as handouts.

This section is intended to supplement the curricula, textbooks, and materials you currently use for lessons on American inventions and innovations. The teacher-developed resources in the section will enhance the classroom experience for both you and your students. You might get started by showing the video, which traces the development of the electric guitar.
The lesson plans and DBQs are organized by grade level. The DBQ primary sources can stand alone in DBQ exercises. Images of the primary sources are independent of any extensive explanatory information, so that the images can be used as handouts.

This section is intended to supplement the curricula, textbooks, and materials you currently use for lessons on Native history. The teacher-developed resources in the section will enhance the classroom experience for both you and your students. You might get started by reviewing the video on Lakota winter counts.

This section is intended to supplement the curricula, textbooks, and materials you currently use for lessons that demonstrate the importance of travel and transportation in American life. The teacher-developed resources will enhance the classroom experience for both you and your students. You might start by viewing the short video, in which curators at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum discuss the achievements and legacy of Amelia Earhart.

This section is intended to supplement the curricula, textbooks, and materials you currently use for lessons on the expansion of the United States. The teacher-developed resources will enhance the classroom experience for both you and your students. You might get started by showing the video, in which Smithsonian art curator Richard Murray examines Emanuel Leutze's epic painting Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way.

Smithsonian collection. This collection of photographs and primary resources allows students to explore how sports played a key role in the Civil Rights Movement. They learn about famous African-American athletes and their historical contributions. At the end of the collection, there is a timeline that students can fill in. Excellent introduction to the Civil Rights Movement.

Students will be able to cite the origins and outcome of the War of 1812 and be able to place the creation of the Star-Spangled Banner in a chronological framework.

Power shirts, often made of tanned animal hides and adorned with objects such as fur, beads, and locks of hair, were highly important in the culture of many Native Americans. These shirts, which were associated very closely with the identity of their wearer, contained various symbols representing success in war, spirituality, special abilities, and outstanding achievements. After studying these shirts, learning to understand their significance to Native Americans, and discussing the symbols they contain; students will identify achievements in their own lives that reflect leadership and power. They will document these achievements in symbolic form on shirts that they create.

In this issue’s lesson, students exercise their observation skills to do some of the actual work of marine biologists who study the endangered North Atlantic right whale. They identify an individual whale by examining photographs taken at sea. They then examine a record of sighting of the whale in order to track its movements.

Smithsonian resource. Students learn about the experiences of incarcerated Japanese Americans during WW2 through reading a series of comics developed for this purpose. Can be used as an introduction to this topic. Blank comic template is also included for assessment opportunities.

How does Norman Rockwell tell a story in a single frame? This teacher guide provides background information, key images, and lesson plans that can be used either in conjunction with a museum visit or in the classroom.

Afro Boricua poet, publisher and professor Raina León recites “Testimonios” in honor of the dearly departed poet Kamilah Aisha Moon. This video is one of the 2021 Dead Poets Open Mic Series created by the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Latino in collaboration with Mouthfeel Press.

AfroLatinx spoken word artist Lysz Flo explores imagined futures in their poem “This time”, and reflects on the legacy and love of living and ancestral grandmothers/abuelas through the poem “Wela.” This video is one of the 2021 Dead Poets Open Mic Series created by the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Latino in collaboration with Mouthfeel Press.

Exploratory play is about asking questions: “What happens when I do this?” “What if I did it this way?” Experimenting with materials and pushing their limits encourages us to consider a wide range of possibilities when problem-solving. Playing around with objects and ideas helps us see that there may be more than one solution.

This site puts students in the role of historians as they examine a buffalo hide painting and click on areas that reveal clues to the painting's story. The story helps students understand the role of the buffalo in the lives of the American Indians of the northern plains. Grades 4-12

Spiders are endlessly fascinating and a great school subject because they offer plenty of teachable topics that span the curriculum. We've tried to provide some of those topics here in these lessons, as for all their amazing physical features and unusual habits, spiders, with just a few notable exceptions, pose little threat to humans and are creatures deserving of understanding and respect. It's our hope that, as you work through the activities, your students will gain a new appreciation for spiders.

Smithsonian resource. During Covid-19, racism towards Asian Americans increased in many parts of the United States. This collection of videos shows conversations with community leaders combating racism. Can be used to facilitate discussion and discourse in the classroom.