The Smithsonian Institution is the world’s largest museum, education, and research complex, with 19 museums and the National Zoo—shaping the future by preserving our heritage, discovering new knowledge, and sharing our resources with the world. Content from all of Smithsonian's buildings can be found here. Use the filters on the left to narrow the results by material type, subject, or grade level.
Come along on the first successful cross-country automobile trip with H. Nelson Jackson, Sewall Crocker, and their dog Bud as they traveled in 1903 from California to New York in 63 days.
Exhibition highlights New York's harbor, with stories of the city as a hub of immigration, manufacturing, and culture.
Objects can lead you to some interesting stories. Read and see where and how this toy-like locomotive was used. Cursor down to locate this information.
Three short videos from the America on the Move exhibition provide an overview of American transportation history. Click on the icons to see the videos, or just read the scripts.
Videos from the America on the Move exhibition provide an overview of America's transportation infrastructure history, the road and rail networks we depend on.
A great resource from the National Museum of American History that shows various modes and uses of transportation in the 19th and 20th centuries.
This site features a variety of live animal cams including cams of the lions, the giant pandas, and the elephants. In addition to the live cams, information on each animal is provided.
Get information about a variety of mammals using this online alphabetical index. Information includes facts about their classification, habitat, diet, behavior and conservation status.
The Smithsonian institute offers this site by Robert L. Humphrey titled, "Anthropology on the Internet for K-12." Includes excellent information on the different branches of anthropology, careers, exhibits, publications, and more.
This site contains facts and images pertaining to the crew, spacecraft, and mission of Apollo 13.
A comprehensive site focused on all of the Apollo missions. Includes details on launches and moon landings, with charts, statistics, and images. Especially interesting is the list of "Top Ten Apollo Results," which explains the major discoveries from the Apollo missions.
This resource offers an in-depth exploration of the U.S. space program and the role President John F. Kennedy took in setting the agenda for manned space flight to the moon.
Scientists from the University of Arizona are conducting Y chromosome research on native Siberians to try to determine whether there is a genetic affinity to North American native people. The rationale and direction of this research are explained here.
African artists commonly base their work on animals observed in their natural habitats. Artful Animals lets you view African art that takes animals as its subject and inspiration. Learn about animals as symbols in African art, the beauty of animals that populate the African continent, and what African artists find interesting about the animals they observe around them.
The Art of African Exploration is a catalog of primary sources that documents the impressions of Europeans who traveled to Africa in the late eighteenth and nineteenth century to explore and conquer. View the work of expedition artists who produced images of African landscapes, wildlife, and inhabitants. With special sections devoted to Livingstone and Stanley and to Victoria Falls.
Follow this link to the arts base of "Smithsonian, the monthly magazine published by the Smithsonian Institution. Access arts-related content from the current issue of the magazine; link to ARTiculation, the Smithsonian's art blog; open photo galleries of images from the magazine's pages; and peruse a changing lineup of articles and features.
This lesson plan uncovers the "tricks" artists use when creating a landscape painting. Students will explore the work of American artists George Catlin, Albert Bierstadt, Thomas Moran, and Winslow Homer. One of the activities is in spanish.
The lessons in this issue familiarize students with memorials in which they examine four memorials from around the world and examples in their own community. In a culminating activity, students identify and create a memorial for someone they have lost.
Students become detectives, reading and analyzing documents and artifacts as clues to the life of a nineteenth century woman, Annie Steel. The students then use various materials to create a series of collages.
Read about the endangered Asian Elephant. Find out what it likes to eat, where it lives, and its behaviors. Click on the links to the left for more information.