A Smithsonian website plus lesson plans on the art of landscape painting. Includes details on landscape painting techniques to create the illusion of depth and space as well as information on four landscape artists.
As part of the Smithsonian Art Museum's database of artists, this site provides biographical information on Laszlo Moholy-Nagy in addition to an extensive listing of his works as displayed at the museum.
This resource provides information about Japanese-Americans who were forced to relocate to interment camps during World War II.
Archived images of coins from a beautiful online exhibition on the history of money.
By studying invention throughout history, this site encourages the inventive and creative spirit in all of us.
With this resource, teachers can select the most appropriate academic level and download a lesson plan that contains images, Word documents and PDF resources for teaching about the history of black Americans in aviation. Excellent resource for Black History Month. Requires Adobe Reader.
This exhibition by National Portrait Gallery titled "Let Your Motto Be Resistance" presents photographs documenting notable African Americans and their contributions to American culture. The gallery of portraits offers an impressive selection of images of each individual accompanied by a short biography.
Biographical portraits of African Americans involved in the struggle for civil rights and equality, from the time of Frederick Douglass forward. Learn about the contributions of Edmonia Lewis, Sojourner Truth, Edward Bannister, Octavius Catto, James Baldwin, Stokley Carmichael, and others whose actions led to to the eventual expansion of freedoms in America.
See a display of correspondence from George Washington on a variety of topics that show his interest in shaping the new country. An explanation of each topic is given along with a transcript of the letter.
The Smithsonian's EdGate project provides this illustrated narrative site that explores the mapping of the American West accomplished by the 1804-06 Lewis and Clark expedition.
This index of links offers the opportunity to explore important and interesting topics. Visiting links on the desired topic is most likely to provide primary sources or at least point students in the right direction.
The Smithsonian National Zoo provides a detailed lion fact sheet. Content includes a look at the lion's size, geographic distribution, status in the wild, habitat, diet, reproduction, life span, and behavior.
Investigate how important parasites are and how they relate to their hosts through this webcast with Dr. Anna Phillips, a zoologist. [30:52]
As part of the Smithsonian Art Museum's database of artists, this site provides biographical information on Lois Mailou Jones in addition to an extensive listing of her works as displayed at the museum.
Use this activity as an introduction to adaptations. Students will view video clips of birds and formulate their own observations and explanations for the different types of bird beaks and how they are used.
Two thousand years before today's "global economy," an exchange network linked the continent of Asia via the Silk Route. Between the first and eighth centuries of the common era, the empires and states of Asia often came into conflict as they competed for territory and other resources or sought to dominate their neighbors in religious and political arenas. Yet the sea and overland routes between China and the eastern Mediterranean-the Silk Route, or Silk Road-also fostered peaceful interaction, both cultural and commercial. Merchants, ambassadors, and pilgrims transported crafted goods and raw materials acquired from distant realms: spices, precious metals, musical instruments, rare medicinal herbs, objects used in worship and ritual. Silk, the most famous of these long-distance luxuries, reached southwest Asia by the first century B.C.E. from production centers in China.
Like fun house mirrors, motion pictures over the past one hundred years have reflected, challenged, influenced, and altered our visions of ourselves and the world in which we live. This virtual Exhibition was produced by the Photographic History Collection at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History as a centennial salute to cinema. The site contains a selection of early equipment, posters, and photographs from the Museum collections.
An exhibition that celebrates FDR's love for stamps and stamp collecting.
This online exhibition takes a detailed look at the construction of the Panama Canal. Content explores why the canal was built, how the route was chosen, how much man power and machine power it took to move all that dirt, hazards of the job, and much more.
Come meet Benjamin Franklin and some of his scientific friends. Learn about them through the eyes of early American portraiture. Following the introduction are three great lesson plans for teachers of language arts, science, and visual arts.