The purpose of this lesson is to show learners how to keep a nature journal. How to reflect, respond, and question the observations they see in the world.

This online exhibit explores the history and development of the electric guitar. It includes information about the instrument designers and the musicians who influenced the creation of new guitars and innovations in their sound. Examples of about 40 different guitars are included with descriptions of each. There is also information on how different types of acoustic and electric guitars operate with the sounds of each available for listening. Finally, addition information, references, and links are included.

Also from a Smithsonian museum, this resource provides students with a primary resource (an excerpt written by an incarcerated Japanese American boy) and opportunities to analyze this resource as a means to understand the conditions of the Japanese American concentration camps in the U.S. during WW2. Standards based and includes questions, activities, videos, and more.

Ibn Battuta is considered one of the world's greatest travelers. During the 14th century, he traveled an estimated 75,000 miles across most of the Eastern Hemisphere, three times farther than Marco Polo, in search of knowledge and for the love of travel. In today's world, this encompasses over 40 countries. To share the learning and research so highly valued by Islamic culture, the Sultan of Morocco, Abu Inan Faris, wanted Ibn Battuta's worldwide travels records and published when he returned home to Morocco after almost 20 years. Buttuta's reminiscences where chronicled in a jourla called The Rila and documents this enormous achievement. Ibn Battuta's journey gives us a first-hand account of life in the 14th-century Muslim world, while offering a glimpse of the world through the perspective of an education "cosmopolitan." The original book, handwritten in Arabic, can be viewed today at the National Library in Paris.

Smithsonian resource. This collection of 5 videos visually tells the story of 5 labor leaders and how they worked to ensure safer working conditions, better wages, and how they brought forth state and federal legislation with their work.

offers the world's largest database of Lakota winter counts -- pictures drawn on cloth or buffalo hide to remember each year's key events (1701 to 1905). Ten Lakota bands' winter counts are shown side by side on a timeline. Compare how the bands depicted a particular year. Search for an image. Watch interviews with Lakota. Learn about the culture of this Sioux tribe of the northern plains that followed buffalo herds for food. A teachers guide is included.

What are the historical influences on the development of artistic traditions in the Southwest US? This portion of the Latino Art & Culture module explains how the santo tradition reflects past and present cultural values.

What are the historical and cultural sources that inform social content in Latino artworks? This portion of the Latino Art & Culture module examines the Chicano movement in the US.

How can artwork teach us about Latino culture in the United States? This portion of the Latino Art and Culture module takes a close look at the art and culture of Puerto Rican-Americans, Mexican-Americans, and Cuban Americans.

What are the historical, social, and cultural sources that inform the work of Latino artists? This portion of the Latino Art & Culture module describes Latino cultural roots from a rich mixture of European, indigenous, and African sources.

Studying leadership qualities is highly important for students of all ages so that they can identify and develop their own. In this lesson, students will be introduced to several Native American leaders, both past and present, and will be asked to examine their different styles of leadership.
Catlin painted Indians who were famous in American Indian history—men such as Black Hawk, the Sac and Fox chief, and vanquished leader of the so-called Black Hawk War; Kee-o-kúk, who replaced Black Hawk as chief of the Sac and Fox; Os-ce-o-lá, war leader of the Seminoles; the Mandan chief Four Bears; the Hidatsa chief Black Moccasin; Buffalo Bull's Backfat, head chief of the Blood Indians, and the Grand Pawnee leader, Horse Chief. In his Letters and Notes, Catlin described their generosity, hospitality, and politeness and their positions as chiefs and leaders with honor and integrity. Wilma Mankiller and W. Richard West are among the contemporary Indian leaders speaking in the campfire stories on this web site. Identifying past and present leadership qualities promotes understanding of leaders in traditional and contemporary societies. At the same time, it fosters development of personal leadership qualities.

How can we look deeper to get more meaning out of visual images? This basic visual literacy activity takes students through ways to look at selected images with the idea that they can begin to construct meaning from images and artworks.

By immersing themselves in primary sources (George Catlin's letters), students will learn the difference between objective and subjective writing styles. They will draw facts out of the letters to create newspaper articles in Activity 1, and write their own letters as if they were members of the Catlin family in Activity 2. These activities are designed to enliven historical figures, to connect the "current events" of the past with the current events of the present, and to help students read and interpret historical documents.

This site features maps of the famous expedition. The Corps of Discovery collected 30 maps from Indians, trappers, and traders, and prepared 140 maps -- most of them drawn or compiled by Clark. The website shows the King map (created for the expedition) and the first map displaying their geographical discoveries. Descriptions of expedition members, life on the trail, and help provided by Indian tribes are included.

This Smithsonian K-12 Education website provides a brief overview of mahogany tide (also known as red tide) events. These events are caused by dinoflagellates, a special type of phytoplankton, and can harm sea life. This website also features links to other related red tide sites.

This site introduces students to the world of Ben Franklin and other natural philosophers at a time when the word science had not yet entered our language. Portraits of Franklin's colleagues, an overview of his life, and experiments showing how electrical charges attract and repel are part of this lesson (for Grades 3-8).

In this lesson students will be exposed to the cultural and artistic importance of wampum belts to the Native American tribes that George Catlin encountered on his travels, and the importance of the belts in American history as markers of relations between tribes and the U.S. Government between 1776 and 1878. Students will gain insight into the differing ways in which these cultures expressed ideas, values, and policy through objects, written documents, and oral traditions.

Archeology offers the most tangible evidence of earlier civilizations. Although archeology has already provided invaluable information pertaining to the life styles and skills of the peoples from this region of West Africa, the archaeological record is still incomplete. The figurative sculptures featured in this resource furnish one part of the historical puzzle of this region. These handsome terracotta sculptures are from the Inland Niger Delta region near Djenne (pronounced JEH-nay; also spelled Jenne), one of several important trading cities that grew and developed during the Mali Empire.

Smithsonian. Students watch a brief video on the March on Washington, and then analzye a photograph and three articles from the March. They then work to answer the question "What problems did the participants on the March on Washington aim to solve?"

Smithsonian resource. Multiple short videos show how American scientists and innovators were prominent in the 1800s and their contributions to society.