New United Motor Manufacturing Incorporated (NUMMI) was an auto manufacturing plant in Fremont, California, operated jointly by Toyota and General Motors from 1984 until 2010. GM had operated the plant at Fremont from 1960 where the clashes between management and union workers resulted in the pla

The history of patenting higher-level organisms began in the mid-1980s with a little guy called OncoMouse. In this episode, host Tory Altman joins Mallory Warner of the Museum's Division of Medicine and Science to talk about the first animal patented in the United States, and some of the ethical

Between the years 1790 and 1880 the U.S. Patent Office required both documentation and a three-dimensional working model to demonstrate each new invention submitted for a patent. The models helped to explain proposed innovations and compare them against similar inventions. In this online exhibiti

In this post, readers join a New York architect in 1968 as he explores the usefulness of the Empire State Building and its potential for the future.  Including a portion of the architect’s testimony to the Y Supreme Court, this blog asks readers to consider the non-monetary value of a stru

Learn how architects use paper to represent plans for buildings. Make two- and three-dimensional representations of your home using close observation and measurements.  Part of an OurStory module entitled Building Beautiful Buildings, this activity includes step-by-step instructions

Architects design the buildings we use every day. Their designs solve problems, like how to make a sturdy building, and reflect their ideas about beauty and history. By using this OurStory module from the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, children and adults can learn about archi

Use this guide to actively read Julia Morgan Built a Castle, a picture book about one of America’s first female architects. Part of an OurStory module entitled Building Beautiful Buildings, this activity includes discussion prompts, a glossary, and background information.

Take a close look at two architectural drawings to learn about symmetry and scale. Part of an OurStory module entitled Building Beautiful Buildings, this activity includes step-by-step instructions, images of museum objects, and background information on architecture. OurStory is designe

In 2005, Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast of the United States. In her wake, a team of curators from the museum set out to collect objects that captured the history of the moment and what it meant to the country. In this episode of the History Explorer podc

This lesson plan, developed in support of the exhibition Paper Engineering: Fold, Pull, Pop, and Turn, introduces students to the variety of mechanisms included in movable books and encourages them to build their own pop-up in support of a social studies lesson. Making pop-ups subtly rei