In a museum, it is the job of curators to select objects for display. Curators also study the objects in the museum’s collection. They learn as much as they can about each object so that they can share the story with the museum’s visitors. This collection of teaching resources includes lesson plan ideas for creating a classroom exhibition, a video detailing the Cooper Hewitt's "Digital Curator Project" with teens, as well as a small sample of videos of curators from around the Smithsonian discussing their jobs and research interests. Also included are suggested guidelines for a peer review of student exhibitions.

<p>This teaching collection includes a variety of resources to complement a study of 12-bar blues and ‘melodic improvisation’. Through these lesson plans, sheet music, video performances and podcasts, teachers can introduce key elements of the blues sound, as well as writing with the historical context of the development of the blues. </p> <p>This collection was created for the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) Arts Professional Development Day.</p><p>#SmithsonianMusic<br /></p>

<p>[DESCRIBE YOUR STUDENTS' PODCAST TOPIC HERE; INCLUDE ANY IMAGES, NOTES OR DOCUMENTATION ABOUT THEIR PROCESS. </p> <p>EXAMPLE (3-4 sentences): <em>Sixth grade students conducted research about our community's access to clean drinking water, electricity, and roads over the past fifty years. St</em><em>udents identified subject matter experts, refined interview questions, conducted interviews and produced the episode included here. This collection includes the completed podcast episode, alongside text and images documenting the students' research and production process.</em>]</p> <hr /><p>This Smithsonian Learning Lab collection includes examples of student-created podcast epsidoes, in response to prompts from the <em><a href="https://learninglab.si.edu/profile/63455" target="_blank">Sidedoor for Educators</a> </em>collections. After listening to <a href="https://www.si.edu/sidedoor" target="_blank" style="background-color:rgb(63,63,63);">Sidedoor</a><em></em> podcasts to set context, gain background knowledge from Smithsonian experts, and initiate a local dialogue on the topic, students engaged in community-based scientific research to explore and collect evidence about how this topic and the content within the episode is defined locally.<br /></p> <p>To find additional student podcast collections, search the Smithsonian Learning Lab for <a href="https://learninglab.si.edu/search?st=%23YAGSidedoor2019&amp;st_op=and&amp;item_type=collections">#YAGSidedoor2019</a>.</p>

In this activity, students will learn about sources of pollution in nearby streams, lakes, and rivers, and then conduct their own test of water quality. They will take a sample of local water and determine its pH number—a measure of acidity or, its opposite, alkalinity. They will be able to identify point and non-point pollution sources in their community, and make connections between everyday human actions and water quality.

In this student activity, you’ll pick an object to represent your family history, the history of your community, or your own personal history. You will study the object as a museum curator would study it—as an artifact, an object with historical importance. You will first document the object in photographs, as museum curators usually do. Then you will write a label for the object, as if it were a piece on display in a museum. Finally, you will try to “think” like your object. You will write a story from the object’s point of view—as if the object itself were speaking. You might be surprised by what it says!

In this student activity, you'll investigate human interaction with the natural world and discover ways to address global environmental concerns. It includes an archived interview with an expert, as well as an interactive timeline from the Environmental Protection Agency and steps that every citizen can take to be more environmentally aware.

Learning resource collection, which includes an iconic portrait of George Washington, filled with symbols that tell a story about early America and its first leader. Explore the ways that the artist uses symbols in the portrait to tell about the subject’s life, personality, and achievements.

<p>This topical collection includes images from Wilson A. Bentley's snowflake photography collection, which was donated to the Smithsonian in 1903. Bentley used a bellows camera that had a microscope inside to capture these small and unique natural objects. Also included in the collection is the original correspondence between Bentley and the Smithsonian, as well as ideas for using these sources in the classroom from the Smithsonian Institution Archives.</p>

This collection includes a growing number of educational video resources in American Sign Language, including the ArtSigns series from the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the story behind an unusual object at the National Museum of American History, the Two Inch Universe from the Chandra X-Ray Observatory, as well as a performance from the National Museum of American Indian, and storytelling at the Smithsonian's Folklife Festival.

<p>This is a Smithsonian Learning Lab topical collection, which contains interdisciplinary education resources, including student interactives, videos, images and blogs to complement the Smithsonian's national conversation on global climate change, highlighted on <em><a href="http://www.smithsonianmag.com/second-opinion/second-opinion-education-resources-180963599/">Second Opinion</a></em><strong>. </strong> Use this sample of the Smithsonian's many resources to introduce or augment your study of this topic and spark a conversation. </p>

<p>This topical collection includes resources related to featured women scientists, inventors and entrepreneurs. This collection includes portraits of the scientists, inventors and entrepreneurs, related artifacts, articles, videos with experts, and related Smithsonian Learning Lab collections. Use this collection to launch lessons about the women's life stories, primary source analysis, and examination of the context in which these women lived and made their contributions. This collection is not comprehensive but rather provides a launching point for research and study. <br /></p> <p>Keywords: Mae Carol Jemison, Grace Hopper, Ellena Ocha, Maria Sibylla Merian, Madam CJ Walker, Charlotta Bass, Dr. Nancy Grace Roman, Ursula Marvin, Valentina Tereshokova, #BecauseOfHerStory<br /></p>

<p>This collection includes videos demonstrating key principles of the science of sound, using some of the Smithsonian's scientific instrument collection. These videos are paired with the Visible Thinking Routine, "What's going on? What do you see (or hear) that makes you say that?" as a way to check for understanding. Learners can select one or more of the videos to watch and then provide their interpretation of what's happening and support it with a justification from the video. Learners can also explore additional short experiments, under the heading "Additional Resources" to further understand these principles in action.  #SmithsonianMusic</p>