"This black t-shirt, which says “Silence = Death” with a pink triangle, symbolizes the struggle against AIDS.
Lessons & Activities

Grade Range:
K-4
Resource Type(s):
Reference Materials, Lessons & Activities, Worksheets
Date Posted:
9/9/2008
This booklet, connected to the Invention at Play online exhibition from the Lemelson Center, highlights inventors who started out as great players and who recall a strong link between their play and inventing. It encourages adults to create an enriching play/inventing environme

Grade Range:
9-12
Resource Type(s):
Primary Sources, Interactives & Media, Lessons & Activities
Date Posted:
11/10/2009
This teacher's resource challenges students to think about the gold nugget that began the California gold rush as a valuable resource for understanding westward expansion and the idea of Manifest Destiny. It includes a preliminary activity intended to introduce students to doing hi
Grade Range:
5-12
Resource Type(s):
Primary Sources, Lessons & Activities, Worksheets
Date Posted:
1/22/2011
In these classroom activities, developed for the exhibition America on the Move, students will use visual, analytical, and interpretive skills to examine primary sources including a historical map and answer questions about them to learn more about the expansion of transportati

Grade Range:
9-12
Resource Type(s):
Primary Sources, Interactives & Media, Lessons & Activities
Date Posted:
11/11/2009
This teacher's resource challenges students to think about the Greensboro Woolworth's lunch counter and it's importance to the Civil Rights movement. It includes a preliminary activity intended to introduce students to doing history with objects and 3 lesson plans focused on s

Grade Range:
K-4
Resource Type(s):
Reference Materials, Lessons & Activities
Date Posted:
5/21/2009
For hundreds of years, seacoasts, rivers, lakes, and canals have had a big impact on the ways America has changed as a country. By using this OurStory module from the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, children and adults can enjoy exploring lighthouses and the maritime hist

Grade Range:
K-4
Resource Type(s):
Interactives & Media, Lessons & Activities
Date Posted:
3/31/2014
This useful reading guide will help engage young readers as they read Lemonade in Winter: a Book About Two Kids Counting Money, a children's book based that tells the story of two siblings who decide to spend an otherwise snowy winter's day opewning a lemonade sta

Grade Range:
K-4
Resource Type(s):
Reference Materials, Lessons & Activities
Date Posted:
6/10/2008
In this resource, students will investigate the roles that pottery and water played in the lives of the Pueblo Indians of New Mexico. Students will learn about Native American culture by reading the book entitled When Clay Sings and discover the symbolism of two modern pots in a hands-on

Grade Range:
9-12
Resource Type(s):
Lessons & Activities, Worksheets
Date Posted:
10/24/2013
Using documents and historical background from the exhibition Changing America: Emancipation Proclamation 1863, March on Washington 1963, students will d

Grade Range:
9-12
Resource Type(s):
Primary Sources, Interactives & Media, Lessons & Activities
Date Posted:
11/8/2009
This object-based learning activity revolves around a dress that connects the lives of Mary Todd Lincoln and Elizabeth Keckley, a popular African-American dressmaker who lived in Washington, D.C at the time of the Civil War. Students will learn how one object can tell many different stories.

Grade Range:
9-12
Resource Type(s):
Interactives & Media, Lessons & Activities
Date Posted:
6/19/2015
Abraham Lincoln is typically portrayed as a gaunt, bearded man, both thoughtful and troubled. The story that goes along with this image is as familiar to Americans as any children’s fable. He was born in a log cabin. He became the 16th president. He freed the slaves and saved the Union. He was