Smithsonian's History Explorer Resources Related To "B.F. Skinner's Nose Cone of a Pigeon-Guided Missile"

Doodles, Drafts and Designs: Industrial Drawings from the Smithsonian

Thu, 14 Jun 2012 14:01:27 GMT

Students will learn about American industrial creativity by looking at industrial drawings, considering their aesthetic value as well as their importance to the design process. Engineers, inventors, and designers produce drawings as part of their creative process. They draw to work out and refine concepts and details. They draw to persuade. They draw to give direction. And they draw to record their ideas and to learn from others. An innovators gallery allows students to explore the achievements of a variety of American innovators-from designers and engineers to inventors and manufacturers. Students can also view all of the objects included in the exhibition or can examine a selected number of objects that have been placed in thematic categories. A resources page includes an extensive bibliography and a brief list of recommended websites.

Invention at Play Homepage

Thu, 07 Jun 2012 10:43:31 GMT

Through the use of interactive games, inventors' stories, video commentaries, and toy displays, students will learn how play connects to the creative impulse that is fundamental to the work of invention, and explore the playful side of invention and the inventive side of play.

Treasures of American History: National Challenges

Wed, 07 Nov 2012 14:56:27 GMT

In this section of the online exhibition Treasures of American History, students will learn that by understanding the challenges of the past, they can draw lessons and inspiration for confronting new challenges in the present and future. The topics discussed in this section are: the American Revolution; slavery; westward expansion; the Civil War, women's suffrage, the Great Depression and World War II, the Civil Rights movement and AIDS. A Spanish version of the exhibition is available on the exhibition's homepage.

World War II

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 17:24:47 GMT

Students will learn how Americans joined the Allies to defeat Axis militarism and nationalist expansion. Sixteen million Americans donned uniforms in this section of the online exhibition The Price of Freedom: Americans at War. The millions more who stayed home comprised a vast civilian army, mobilized by the government to support the war effort. The world-wide conflict that led to the emergence of the United States as an economic and military superpower is divided into sections that allow students to focus either on a specific aspect of the war, or the conflict as a whole. The sections included are titled: Axis Aggression, America Enters the War, Mobilizing for War, "You're in the Army Now", Battle of the Atlantic, The Mediterranean Theater, Storming Fortress Europe, The Pacific Theater; So Others Might Fight; Morale Boosters and Victory and Peace. A non-flash version of the site is available: World War II.