See one of America's earliest steam locomotives, the John Bull, come to life while riding the rails. Part of an OurStory module entitled All Aboard the Train!, this activity includes strategies that will help adults and children actively view a 4-minute video of the John Bull in

Jingle the Brass is a book about a young boy who learns words used by railroad workers of the steam-engine era while on an exciting train trip. Part of an OurStory module entitled All Aboard the Train!, this activity includes strategies that will help adults and children activel

Playing, singing, and cooking can bring learning about trains to life! Part of an OurStory module entitled All Aboard the Train!, this activity includes tips for incorporating special terms used by railroad workers into playing with trains, cooking a train café car menu, or singing trai

Explore a local train-related site with safety and discussion tips for kids and families. Part of an OurStory module entitled All Aboard the Train!, this activity includes strategies for selecting a train-related field trip in your area (such as train stations, train tracks, or train mus

In this episode of the History Explorer podcast, curator Hal Wallace talks about the development of the laser, an invention that has as many practical uses as portrayals in science fiction and fantasy.  In addition to audio, this resource includes related images and a teachers guid

In this lesson plan students will examine primary sources to determine the level of threat caused by the buildup of Soviet nuclear missiles and weapons sites in Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis and will analyze President Kennedy’s response.  This resource was produced to accompany the

From 1961 to 1973, the North Vietnamese and Vietcong held hundreds of Americans captive. In North Vietnam alone, more than a dozen prisons were scattered in and around the capital city of Hanoi. American POWs gave them nicknames: Alcatraz, Briarpatch, Dirty Bird, the Hanoi Hilton, the Zoo. Condit

In this lesson plan, students analyze news sources from the Vietnam War era to describe how POWs and their families were represented in the media, then write letters from the perspective of the relative of a POW that describes the concerns of POW families. This resource was produced to accompany

Take a trip or conduct a phone interview with a member of the League of Women Voters. The League of Women Voters was created in 1920 to help organize women voters and encourage their active participation in civic life. Part of an OurStory module entitled Winning the Vote for Women, this activity

Take a closer look at some of the Smithsonian's collection of "objection and answer" banners that displayed arguments for and against women's suffrage. Part of an OurStory module entitled Winning the Vote for Women, this activity includes a worksheet that encourages discussion of the women's suff