<p>This collection was prepared for a workshop with Pittsburgh Public School teachers about integrating the visual arts with Social Studies curriculum. It models how to use the claim-support-question visible thinking strategy as well as the use of historic lenses that suggest different questions to ask about a work of art.</p><p><br /><br /></p><p>The content focus of this collection is Pittsburgh during the Great Depression. </p><p><br /><br /></p><p>Tags: Pittsburgh, Great Depression, 1930s, New Deal, steel mills, workers, economy</p>

Using the Project Zero Visible Thinking routine "Claim Support Question," a routine for clarifying truth claims, students will examine a photograph taken by Carl Mydans for the Farm Security Administration. This exercise could be used as a warm up for a lesson about the Great Depression's impact on farmers, sharecropping, or the New Deal. Tags: Roosevelt, New Deal, Farm Security Administration, Great Depression, tenant farmer, sharecropper, migrant farmer, Okie, Missouri, Oklahoma, Dust Bowl, Resettlement Administration.

<p>This collection of resources invites students to examine how societies have been convinced to take action regarding air pollution over time, and to craft their own persuasive message regarding pollution. Students will identify several different means of compelling individuals and groups to change their behavior in order to benefit the environment. They will then evaluate the effectiveness of those strategies. Finally, they will create their own message convincing others to take steps towards improving the environment. </p><p>Tags: smoke control, smog, pollution, environmentalism, earth day, advertising, persuasive writing, ad campaign</p>

<p>Have you ever sat while someone painted your picture or took a photograph? How does it feel? What do you think about while it occurs? This student activity begins with a portrait of George Washington and a letter describing his attitude towards portraits. After students reflect on these, they will choose another portrait from the set and focus on developing observational skills and an attitude of empathy by examining the work closely and imagining the perspective of one of the people in the image. </p><p>Tags: portrait, point of view, perspective, Washington, Pine, de Kooning, John F. Kennedy, JFK, Norman Rockwell, Mitchell, Spalding, video, self-portrait</p>

<p>In this collection, students will review the life of Frederick Douglass and learn about one of his most famous speeches, "The Meaning of Fourth of July for the Negro" (it is also commonly referred to as "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July). They will explore the strategies he uses to persuade and compare staged readings of the speech. Next, they will consider the central question posed by Douglass--how does the history of racial injustice in the United States affect our understanding of national symbols and what they mean? In addition, how do the diverse opinions of the many citizens of the United States present both challenges and opportunities for our nation? </p><p>Teachers may draw relevant connections to today and recent protests during the national anthem by professional, collegiate, and high school sports teams. </p>

<p>This topical collection is based on a past exhibit in the National Portrait Gallery entitled <a href="http://www.npg.si.edu/exh/rebels/index2.htm" target="_blank">Rebels and Beats: Painters and Poets of the 1950s</a>. This collection might be used by teachers or students who want to explore the counterculture of the 1950s, a time period typically associated with conformity. The collection includes paintings, photographs, and videos related to the writers and artists involved in the Beat Generation, San Francisco Renaissance, Black Mountain College, and New York School scenes. </p><p>In what ways did these artists challenge the social norms of the time? Why is art often a means of challenging the status quo?</p><p>tags: Ginsberg, Kerouac, Ferlinghetti, de Kooning, Baraka, poem, counterculture, Beat Movement</p>

The best selection of coffee makers, urns, and mugs to be found in the Smithsonian collection. The best thing about waking up...

<p>This collection examines the causes of U.S. imperialism at the turn of the century through the lens of two political cartoons. Students will investigate both cartoons and develop a definition of imperialism based on what they find. </p>

<p>This collection includes nine political cartoons about Richard Nixon's presidency and the Watergate scandal, as well as a cartoon analysis worksheet from the National Archives and Record Administration and a link to more cartoons about Nixon at the Library of Congress.</p><p>Teachers may use this collection in many ways: by assigning individual students or groups cartoons to analyze and share with the class via presentations, using the "jigsaw" format to create expert groups on each cartoon and then share information that way, or by creating a gallery walk of cartoons for students to work on individually. Students might even create their own political cartoon about the Nixon presidency, focusing on one of several topics: Watergate, ping-pong diplomacy, detente, visit to Moscow, environmental protections, the "southern strategy," busing, his relationship with the press, Vietnam, and more. </p>

<p>This collection includes three photographs by Farm Security Administration artists that use language and image to create an American scene in the late 1930s-early 1940s. The first has become an iconic image of the Great Depression by Margaret Bourke-White, although it has a more specific history that users will learn about. Students will be asked to consider why the first image became so closely linked with the Great Depression, how the artist and author used irony to make a statement, and how different groups may have experienced the Depression in different ways. After reading a passage from Bud Not Buddy (by Christopher Paul Curtis) and answering reflective questions, students will write their own passage about one of the remaining photographs.</p><p>Essential Questions:</p><p>-How do these artists use images and language to create rich portraits of America?</p><p>-In what way do these images suggest divisions or unity within America during hte 1930s and 1940s?</p><p>Tags: Bud Not Buddy, Margaret Bourke White, Dorothea Lange, Ben Shahn, Farm Security Administration, soup kitchen, bread line, hobo, hoboes, comparison, irony, descriptive writing</p>

<p>This collection provides an introduction to the 3D resources available from the Smithsonian Institution. All of the items in this collection are videos showing 3D models or sharing the process of creating such materials. To explore the models directly in a 3D viewer, download file information, and discover tours and other educator resources, please visit <a href="http://3d.si.edu" target="_blank">3d.si.edu</a>.</p><p>Models of interest to K-12 teachers might include:</p><ul><li>Apollo 11 command module</li><li>Amelia Earhart's flight suit</li><li>Liang Bua (archaeological site where <em>homo floriensis</em> was discovered)</li><li>Funerary bust of Haliphat (from Palmyra)</li><li>Jamestown burial sites and artifacts</li><li>David Livingstone's gun</li><li>Porcelain dishes and other home items in the Freer Gallery of Art (from Asian cultures)</li><li>Killer Whale Hat</li><li>Whale and dolphin fossils</li><li>Cosmic Buddha</li><li>Woolly mammoth skeleton</li><li>Wright Brothers flyer</li><li>Gunboat Philadelphia</li></ul>

<p>This student activity introduces students to the concept of repatriation of cultural heritage items to the tribes to whom they belong, and the ways that museums and Native American groups are now using 3D technology to aid in the process. A killer whale hat, or kéet-s'aaxw, was requested to be repatriated by members of the Tlingit tribe. The Smithsonian Institution, under the repatriation provisions of the National Museum of the American Indian Act, did so. In the years following, the clan's leader decided that it might be beneficial to 3D scan the image in order to preserve its details and protect it in case of loss or fire. Having this data allowed the museum to create an accurate replica to be used for educational purposes, and provided the tribe with peace of mind. Learn more about this story and other cases of repatriation and replication in this collection which includes a 3D model and tour, video, website, and images of objects that have been part of the process. </p> <p>Essential Questions include:</p> <ul><li>How does the current process of repatriation reflect a change in traditional relationships between museums and indigenous groups?</li><li>What kinds of guidelines should be used to determine which objects should be repatriated?</li><li>What benefits does 3D technology provide for museums and Native American tribes? Can you envision other scenarios where 3D technology might play a similarly beneficial role?</li></ul><p>Tags: Native American, American Indian, Tlingit, repatriation, replication, 3D technology, whale hat, indigenous, rights, change over time, museums, anthropology</p>