Through discussion and brainstorming, students will learn about the destructive impact of environmental factors on man-made artifacts and structures in this classroom activity. Upon completion of one or more activities, students will gain a concrete understanding of the complexity of the science

This tile is from La Fortaleza, a military and government complex in San Juan built to defend the city from naval attacks. Construction began in 1533 and was finished in 1540. This tile resembles the Spanish ceramic style of Talavera, a tile factory established in the 16th century near the city o

This is the fourth object in the Roosevelt/Saint-Gaudens object group.   Someone once observed that a giraffe was a horse designed by a committee. The same might be said of this coin: what had seemed a good idea around a table in the boardroom proved to be a

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

Do you have what it takes to be a farmer? Climb into the cab of a tractor, pick a crop, and make informed decisions about how to manage your farm.

In 1851 Isaac Merritt Singer formed the I.M. Singer & Company (later the Singer Sewing Machine Company) after inventing his own sewing machine to remedy a flaw he noticed with traditional models. This Singer 24 chain stitch sewing machine was manufactured in 1910, and used in t

#MyFellowCitizens asks students to think critically about what good citizenship means to them. The learning begins with the guiding question: What does it mean to be a good citizen? Students investigate this question by looking at the Naturalization O

The Haymarket Riot, or Haymarket Incident, occured on May 4, 1886 near Chicago's Haymarket Square. What began as a protest against the killing and wounding of several workers during a strike at the McCormick Reaper Works, turned into a violent riot as an unidentified person threw a bomb at the polic

“The attacks of September 11, 2001, shocked the nation. Nearly 3,000 people were killed and thousands more injured after Islamic extremists hijacked planes and flew them into the World Trade Center buildings and the Pentagon; a fourth plane, bound for D.C., was brought down by intervening passenge

Spark!Lab is a hands -on invention studio in the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. Spark!Lab activities communicate that invention is a process, rather than a single “Aha!” moment; provide visitors with opportunities to explore the invention process and their own inventiveness;