This collection includes artifacts, stamps, political cartoons, portraits, and videos representing various long-term and short-term causes of the Civil War. Students could use the collection as the basis for a sorting activity: Which causes are long-term and which are short? Which represent economic, social, or political differences between the North and South? Can they be put in chronological order? Which show attempts at compromise and which show that violence was difficult to avoid? Additional teaching ideas are listed in the Notes to Other Users section.

This collection includes artifacts, lesson plans, and teaching ideas about Andrew Jackson, including his role in the War of 1812 and his presidency.

The purpose of this collection is to have students consider the causes and consequences of the Mexican-American War. Students will analyze each item in the collection and determine whether it represents the time period before the war, during, or after. Then students will answer a set of broad questions about the war. While most items in the collection have accompanying text, students may need to consult their textbooks or outside resources in order to answer some questions.

This collection teaches students about the changing role of women during World War II: their role in the workplace, increasing presence in the military, and participation in voluntary organizations that supported the war. Students should think about how these activities reinforced traditional notions of gender divisions while they also allowed women to experience new activities.

Collection of lesson plans and interactive websites related to World War II from the Smithsonian Institution.

This collection includes a variety of resources representing styles of writing from around the world. It encourages viewers to consider writing not only for its ability to communicate through letters and symbols, but also for its artistic value. The collection includes a video on Sumerian writing, a website on African writing systems and art, and artifacts that are examples of the writing of East Asian, Arabic, Cherokee, Hebrew, and Modern European alphabets. In addition, a few tools used for writing are included. There is some background material on each type of writing as you read through the collection. Questions for classroom discussion and research might include: -What is the purpose of writing? Why use hand-writing or calligraphy instead of using a computer? -How do alphabets differ? -How can a style of calligraphy (or font change) the interpretation of a written work?