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Smithsonian Institution

National Museum of American History: Poster on the American Home Front

For Students 9th - 10th
A collection of posters used on the home front during WWII to make the war a reality for the everyday citizen. Text accompanies the historical significant graphic images.
Interactive
Smithsonian Institution

National Museum of American History: Lighting a Revolution

For Students 9th - 10th
This website is part of a bigger exhibit exploring the history of invention. This looks at Edison's invention of the light bulb and many other electrical inventions from the following century.
Website
Smithsonian Institution

National Museum of American History: Edison After Forty

For Students 9th - 10th
This online exhibition traces Edison's life, both personal and professional after he reached forty. Historic, primary materials are included.
Website
Smithsonian Institution

National Museum of American History: American Presidency: Kennedy Funeral

For Students 9th - 10th
Documents and artifacts related to the funeral of John F. Kennedy.
Website
Smithsonian Institution

National Museum of American History: Eadweard Muybridge's Photography of Motion

For Students 9th - 10th
From the National Museum of American History this is a description and analysis of the photography of expatriate Englishman Eadweard Muybridge. "Freeze Frame: Muybridge's Photography of Motion" iclude's examples of Muybridge's work...
Website
Smithsonian Institution

National Museum of American History: On Time

For Students 9th - 10th
A multimedia-rich site that examines time and our conception of it: marking time, mechanizing time, synchronizing time, saving time, and expanding time.
Website
Smithsonian Institution

National Museum of American History: The Remarkable Star Map of Simeon De Witt

For Students 9th - 10th
Simeon de Witt created his star map in 1780 after studying European star maps and the skies. His is the 'oldest surviving Anglo-American star map.' Read about the history of star maps, a biography of Simeon de Witt, and the influence his...
Website
Smithsonian Institution

National Museum of American History: On the Water: Maritime Voices

For Students 9th - 10th
Listen to the oral histories of four men and one woman who worked in America's shipyards and aboard her cargo ships during World War II to keep American armed forces supplied with machinery and ammunition.
Handout
Smithsonian Institution

National Museum of American History: Separate but Equal: The Law of the Land

For Students 9th - 10th
A brief description of the Supreme Court decision, Plessy v Ferguson, in 1896, that solidified the separate but equal rule. Included is the title page of the Supreme Court text of the decision.
Handout
Smithsonian Institution

National Museum of American History: Lisa Law Timeline 1963 1973

For Students 3rd - 8th
This timeline shows some very important events in the ten year span between 1963 and 1973. It is a quick, brief overview by year.
Website
Smithsonian Institution

National Museum of American History: Life and Death in the White House: James A. Garfield

For Students Pre-K - 1st
Read a brief account of the assassination of President James Garfield by Charles Guiteau in July, 1881. Included are photographs and information about Alexander Graham Bell's attempts to find the bullet lodged in Garfield's body.
Unit Plan
Smithsonian Institution

National Museum of American History: You Be the Historian

For Students 3rd - 5th
Exercise involves learners in figuring out what life was like two hundred years ago for the colonial American Springer family by examining objects and documents they left behind.
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Smithsonian Institution

National Museum of American History: Information Age

For Students 9th - 10th
This exhibition surveys the history of information technology and its relation to society from the origin of the telegraph to the present. Its emphasis is as much on social as technical change. This support page contains background...
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Smithsonian Institution

National Museum of American History: Mirror Molecules

For Students 9th - 10th
Pages at this site use cartoon drawings to explain mirror image molecules.
Website
Smithsonian Institution

National Museum of American History: Tracking the Buffalo

For Students 3rd - 8th
This explores the role of the buffalo in the lives of the American Indians of the northern plains.
Website
Smithsonian Institution

National Museum of American History: Energy Crises of the 1970s

For Students 9th - 10th
The energy crises in the 1970s had several causes and many effects. See how the groundwork for the crises was laid long before the crises became apparent.
Handout
Smithsonian Institution

National Museum of American History: Fast Attacks and Boomers: Cold War

For Students 9th - 10th
This Cold War timeline highlights events that dominated international affairs from 1945 to 1991.
Activity
Smithsonian Institution

National Museum of American History: Our Story: Explore Pueblo Pots [Pdf]

For Students 1st - 5th
Students learn about Pueblo Indians, Santa Clara and Zuni, in particular, who made useful and beautiful pottery whose designs reflected their mythology and life. After viewing many of the designs, the students can draw their own pottery...
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Smithsonian Institution

Anacostia Community Museum: Still Cookin' by the Fireside

For Students 9th - 10th
This online presentation documents the role of the African American in food service from early colonial days through the 1940s. Primary source documents and photographs are included.
Website
Smithsonian Institution

Anacostia Community Museum: Speak to My Heart: Communities of Faith

For Students 9th - 10th
This site delves into the role that religious institutions and spiritual traditions have and continue to play in the civic, social and cultural lives of African Americans.
Handout
Smithsonian Institution

Anacostia Community Museum: The Meaning of Kwanzaa

For Students 9th - 10th
A thorough explanation of the history, symbols, customs and ceremony give meaning to the holiday of Kwanzaa.
Website
Smithsonian Institution

National Museum of Natural History: Smithsonian Expeditions in Latin America

For Students 9th - 10th
This site from the Smithsonian Institution gives information on expeditions of Smithsonian scientists to Latin America. The site has great pictures and gives a different perspective on the region.
Website
Smithsonian Institution

National Museum of Natural History: Unmasking the Maya: Story of Sna Jtz'ibajom

For Students 9th - 10th
This Smithsonian website looks at the Maya of today in the Chiapas region of Mexico with a brief overview of their history.
Graphic
Smithsonian Institution

National Museum of Natural History: Red Cloud: Photographs of an Oglala Sioux Chief

For Students Pre-K - 1st
A great slideshow of pictures of Red Cloud and his Uncle's Shirt courtesy of Smithsonian Institution.