This student activity collection analyzes the work of two very different Mexican American artists, identifying aspects of culture and exploring expressions about Latino experiences in art. Included in this collection, are five paintings highlighting Latino families, paired with observation and analysis questions and interviews with the artists, Carmen Lomas Garza and Jesse Treviño, as well as podcast analyses of the paintings from the museum's director. As a supplement, students could read a book by Garza depicting her childhood memories of growing up in a traditional Mexican American community, or lead a discussion comparing this artwork with other images of families found in the Smithsonian collections.

In this classroom activity, students will recognize the Smithsonian Institution and be able to explain what a museum does. This is accomplished through the use of discussion questions and activities in which they relate stories from prior museum visits or share ideas for a museum that they would like to create.

Students will think about what they would take and what they would leave behind after reading and responding to a quote by a woman who was forced to move to a Japanese American internment camp during World War II.

Students will examine a Fresnel lens to develop an understanding of how some lighthouse lenses work. They will then apply their knowledge of the lighthouse lens technology to imagine a new invention using a lighthouse lens to complete a different task.

Students learn the history and geography of Turkey, focusing on the Anatolia region and Zeybek traditions. Students will learn to identify rhythmic patterns in Turkish music and Zeybek dance.

Students experience the areas of performance, dance, and socio-cultural heritage of polka music. This lesson is designed for elementary and middle general/classroom music students and can be easily adapted for other types of music classes.

Students will have the opportunity to use four of the Miss Breed letters as primary source documents. As students compare the writers’ differing points of view, they might see more clearly that the history of an event or period of time is never a single story.

Students will learn to order their thoughts into sequential writing. The students will map a trail around the school and then follow some of Jefferson's instructions for wrtiing detialed reports. Each student then writes a description of an animal after reading Meriwether Lewis's report of the black woodpecker, another "new" creature.

Students will learn about the importance of preserving Native culture and see how families share and pass down traditions. Students will gain an understanding of the ongoing Plains traditions of beadwork and quillwork"”decorative arts done with beads and porcupine quills"”and the "giveaway" (an honoring celebration). Students will explore the significance of designs and symbols found on dresses and better understand the Plains peoples"™ long-standing, close connection to their surroundings and natural resources.

Students will learn about the lives of Japanese American children who were forced to leave their homes and move to internment camps during World War II. The module includes links to hands-on activities, pertinent websites, and a list of recommended readings.

Students research the ways that humans impact coral reef ecology and identify some of the organisms that live in coral reef habitats. They will write a narrative essay as if they are one of these organisms and discuss how they are affected by human activities such as over-fishing, habitat destruction, pollution, etc.

Children and adults can enjoy exploring lighthouses and the maritime history of the United States together through children's literature, everyday objects, and hands-on activities

Students show ternary (ABA) form in movement, sing a Russian folk song in English,
practice showing phrase structure and finding and showing beat, and discriminate a
rhythmic pattern at various tempi. This lesson uses music from Romani performers to explore basic musical concepts.

The web of maritime connections between Western Europe, western and central Africa, and the Americas that made up the Atlantic world is the focus of this section of "On the Water: Stories from Maritime America", an online exhibition from the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. Students will learn how Atlantic-based trade shaped modern world history and life in America. Topics covered are the tobacco and sugar trades, the Middle Passage and the transatlantic slave trade, and the piracy that plagued the Caribbean Sea and North American coast during this period.

Students will take a trip together to explore a locally owned business in their community. Children and adults will use the suggested questions to learn more about what it takes to run a business while thinking about the business history of their hometown.

In this lesson, students can learn about the traditions of the Sioux, who resided in the Midwestern part of the United States. This lesson focuses on their winter traditions, including the migration patterns which they followed.

Students can learn about the traditions of the Sioux, who resided in the Midwestern part of the United States. This lesson focuses on their winter traditions, including the migration patterns which they followed.

Students will do a digital field trip to learn more about the Pentagon's memorial for September 11,2001, and then visit a local memorial.

In this lesson are opportunities for teaching and learning about some ways in which music is aligned with visual art. A sampling of songs from Smithsonian Folkways Recordings is presented, alongside the cover art relevant to the songs. Several well-known pieces are featured from the wide array of recordings first envisioned by Folkways Records' founder Moses Asch in the 1940s. Singing, chanting, and movement experiences are featured alongside examinations and discussion of the photographs and imaginative artwork of the historical album covers.

This lesson presents the story of the Dust Bowl and two activities, which simply demonstrate how the effects of farming practices in the early 20th Century contributed to severe soil erosion of a large portion of the North American grasslands.