How can public sculpture reflect our interdependence with nature? This portion of the Public Sculpture module explains how artists heighten public awareness of ecological issues.
How do memorials convey American attitudes toward wars? This portion of the Public Sculpture module describes the assault on Iwo Jima, the flag raising on Mount Suribachi, and the resulting photographs and memorial.
How can a memorial convey the ideals of the memorialized? This portion of the Public Sculpture module explains how symbols create political identity.
What contribution did pioneer women make to life in the West? This portion of the Public Sculpture module explains the Madonna of the Trail project.
What contributions were made by African-American troops participating in the Civil War? This portion of the Public Sculpture module explains how art expresses heroic ideals.
What was the Mexican contribution to the cowboy heritage? This portion of the Public Sculpture module explains stereotypes and the difference between real and mythical cowboys.
How do war memorials reflect public opinion about wars? This portion of the Public Sculpture module describes the nations contrasting views of the Vietnam conflict.
How can public sculpture enhance a communitys sense of place and identity? This portion of the Public Sculpture module explains limited water resources of the American Southwest and describes contributions of artists to municipal projects such as freeways.
What do Pueblo Indian watercolors reveal about the culture and history of Native Americans of the Southwest? This teacher guide begins with the history of the Pueblo Indians and uses watercolor paintings to highlight aspects of Pueblo culture.
Native Americans responded to U.S. expansion policy in different ways. By incorporating Internet resources and working in groups, students will participate in a game show to share the information they have uncovered in a fast-paced, competitive environment. At the end of the game, the winning team receives a prize.
This lesson plan and case study can be used to follow the previous one, or can stand alone. They allow students to explore the effects of the Boston busing crisis that occurred during the Civil Rights Movement. Full lesson plan with primary resources included. Encourages critical thinking.
This site examines misconceptions about herps (the collective name given to reptiles and amphibians), how herps have been viewed throughout history, and how reptiles and amphibians are similar to and different from one another.
How can public sculpture help define events and concepts in history, art, science, and literature? This document previews a larger body of curriculum-friendly resources that explore public sculpture through the lens of history, visual arts, conservation science, and literature.
How can looking at artwork be a thinking exercise? This young children's guide to the Free within Ourselves exhibition gives pointers for looking at and interpreting artwork.
This lesson plan and case study allow students to analyze the fight to desegregate schools. Full lesson plans can be modified for elementary school and include reading, discussion, a project and exit ticket.
We have digitized and indexed dozens of SAAM's free educational materials for your use. Teacher guides are listed with corresponding standards and grade levels for your convenience. Be sure to check back periodically, as more resources will be added.SAAM's online features contain interactive or media-rich assets that can easily be used by educators in the classroom. Students can learn by viewing media or taking part in various online activities.Online activities such as Catlin Classroom have been created specifically for a K-12 audience. Some web features, such as online exhibitions, contain sections created for educators and students, while other features contain primary sources such as artist interviews. Still other features invite student participation, with online interactives or by submitting content for inclusion on the SAAM website.
This site features modern portrait drawings, historical portraits of famous Americans, African and Asian art, modern Japanese prints, works of Latino artists, illustrated manuscripts of Persian lyrical poetry, paintings by James Whistler and Gerhard Richter, lighthouse postcards, lunch containers, Tibetan healing mandalas, photos of famous 20th-century American women, and the Smithsonian's blog, Eye Level, which looks at how art reflects our history and culture.
This site examines the history of transportation in America, early history of mail service, the Civil War, West Point, profiles of U.S. presidents, Lakota winter counts, Lewis and Clark as naturalists, Japanese Americans during World War II, Brown v. Board of Education, athletes who broke social barriers, how voting systems have evolved, September 11, and America's wars.
This site celebrates Jazz Appreciation Month, April, by offering sound clips, information about jazz events, a directory of jazz societies (by state and country), links to other jazz websites, and four online classes featuring Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, and Benny Carter.
This site invites kids to start a collection of rocks, shells, postcards, posters, or something else that interests them. Three Smithsonian collections are sampled. Rocks and Minerals includes the Hope Diamond; Stamps includes Western Cattle in Storm (1898); Historic Coins includes the Jefferson Indian Peace Medal.