Smithsonian Distance Learning Resources

Alabama

Birmingham Civil Rights Institute: Special emphasis on helping teachers to explain the Civil Rights Movement to their students.

US Space and Rocket Center: Skill-based STEM activities for all ages.

show less

Alaska

Anchorage Museum: Imagine, innovate and learn about the art, culture, science and history of Alaska and the North.

show less

Arizona

Heard Museum: Curriculum on the American Indian Boarding Schools and Ancestral Pueblos as well as teacher’s resource art posters.

Musical Instrument Museum:Bring the world of music to your classroom.

show less

Arkansas

Historic Arkansas Museum: Classroom resources include Loan Boxes, which help better understand pioneer living and technology, and downloadable “Chapters in Arkansas History,” educational materials.

show less

California

USS Hornet Sea, Air & Space Museum: Educators can choose from a selection of valuable STEM naval related lesson plans.

Cerritos Library: Find all your resource needs focusing on learning and literacy.

Museum of Latin American Art: Curriculum packets and classroom activities based on the museum’s exhibitions.

Japanese American National Museum: Featuring general and web resources on the Japanese American experience.

California State Railroad Museum: Engineering. Ingenuity. Industry. History. Design. All aboard for a journey of inspiration and education!

San Diego History Center: Immersive learning about San Diego history aligned with California State Standards and the Common Core. NEW: History Happening Now, Share Your Stories, including links for learning at home.

Museum of the African Diaspora: Celebrates Black cultures, ignites challenging conversations, and inspires learning through the global lens of the African Diaspora.

show less

Colorado

University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR): Educational activities for use in the classroom, activities, teaching boxes, videos, games, and more for students and teachers.

Denver Museum of Nature and Science: Experience, explore, and engage with the museum without leaving the classroom through the Virtual Science Academy.

History Colorado: Learn more about Colorado history by using a selection of online resources.

show less

Connecticut

Mystic Seaport: Lessons and Resource Sets for educators

show less

Florida

Patricia and Phillip Frost Art Museum: The museum develops resources and lesson plans for teachers that incorporate our exhibitions with Florida State Standards and STEAM learning.

Polk Museum of Art at Florida Southern College: Audio guides, lectures, essays, interviews, and more.

Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex: Featuring NASA STEM at home for students.

Orange County Regional History Center: School programs, home school field trips, history at home, and more!

show less

Georgia

Tellus Science Museum: Activity sheets, scavenger hunts, at-home science experiments, and links to previously recorded lectures. The resource page is perfect for students, educators, and home school families who want to learn more about Physical sciences.

Booth Western Art Museum: Find Teacher resources on a variety of topics such as westward expansion, American presidents and the Civil War, American Indians and more. Plus, explore in person and virtual field trip opportunities.

show less

Hawaii

Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum: Online curriculum supporting Pearl Harbor history, including Smithsonian Learning Lab collections.

show less

Illinois

Shedd Aquarium: From feeling the skin of a sturgeon to watching penguins fly underwater, students can spark their interest in science and the natural world.

Adler Planetarium: Classrooms and educational tools built for students, teachers, and explorers of all kinds through Zooniverse.

Dusable Museum of African American History: Selections of lesson plans and resources include: African Women and the Origins of Mathematics, African Presence in the Americas Before Columbus, Women of the Civil War, The Economic Vestiges of Enslavement, Reparations and Bringing Visual Art into the Classroom.

Peoria Riverfront Museum: The Every Student Initiative educator guides match Peoria Public School District’s curriculum to the Peoria Riverfront Museum’s exhibits, Dome Planetarium shows, and Giant Screen Theater educational films.

Krannert Art Museum (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign): Lesson plans from creating your own comic to making portraits to encourage critical thinking, creative writing, and movement.

Close Details

Indiana

Conner Prairie: Find articles, historical documents, activity books and more.

Indiana Historical Society: All field trips, outreach programs, curricula and other educator resources are aligned to Indiana academic standards.

show less

Iowa

National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library: The NCSML provides a multicultural adventure, connecting students to the larger, global community in a personal manner.

show less

Kentucky

Kentucky Historical Society: Approaching history education as an inquiry-based, interactive process that is grounded in historical evidence.

show less

Louisiana

National World War II Museum: Broad range of online learning experiences and topics, allowing students, educators, and other professionals to learn significant WWII stories including Pearl Harbor, the Home Front, and D-Day.

Louisiana State Exhibit Museum: Lesson plans on the Caddo Nation, Battle of New Orleans, and Mississippi Migratory Waterfowl.

show less

Maryland

National Museum of Dentistry: Elementary, Middle and High School interactive educational programming that takes a bite out of dental education and history!

show less

Massachusetts

Framingham State University’s McAuliffe Center for Integrated Science Learning: A curated portal of STEM activities for K-12 students.

USS Constitution Museum: Find everything you need to teach about the USS Constitution and the War of 1812 with these teaching kits.

show less

Michigan

Arab American National Museum: Resources for teachers to help talk about dismantling stereotypes.

show less

Mississippi

Mississippi Department of Archives and History: Lesson plans and teaching units cover a range of Mississippi-related topics for students in grades K­-12.

show less

Missouri

Saint Louis Science Center: Gateway to STEM is a free, searchable database of local STEM educational resources and opportunities for educators, parents, and students of all ages.

show less

Montana

Montana Historical Society: Find resources organized by subject, or explore select resources organized by skill level: Elementary, Middle School, and High School.

show less

Nebraska

The Durham Museum: Free, digital learning programs taught by educators and historians, these engaging and interactive classes follow National and State Social Studies Standards and are filled with primary sources featuring artifacts, videos and photographs along with pre- and post-visit activities.
These free exchanges can be accessed by Zoom on a laptop or mobile device. Programs are live each day at 10AM CST and then posted in an online archive for viewing at any time.

show less

New Mexico

National Museum of Nuclear Science and History: Providing resources on general science, energy, chemistry, nuclear science and more.

New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science: Bilingual educational resources, museum kits for loan, and more to help students learn about the natural world.

show less

New York

Rockwell Museum: Museum at Home art activities for families.

Yivo Institute at the Center for Jewish History: A suite of online courses on Jewish food, theater and more. And visit the Institute’s Library and Archives for recordings, primary sources and more.

show less

North Carolina

North Carolina Museum of History: Through podcasts, narrative films, distance learning and more, these digital learning opportunities are waiting for you to get started exploring North Carolina history.

North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences: Virtual Outreach connecting students with museum educators, teacher professional development, and more learning resources.

show less

Ohio

Ohio History Connection: Activities to engage your child in Ohio’s history from home!

show less

Oklahoma

Oklahoma History Center:  Resource guides which correlate with Oklahoma education content standards.

show less

Pennsylvania

Senator John Heinz History Center: Access themed curriculum packages that bring period maps, photographs, letters, and diaries into the classroom.

show less

Rhode Island

Rhode Island Historical Society: Lesson plans that help bring the history of Rhode Island to life.

show less

Tennessee

Memphis Rock ‘N’ Soul Museum:  Offers a historical and educational exploration of the origins of rock and soul music, of the musical legends who overcame racial and socio-economic barriers to create America’s music, and of its influence on world culture.

National Civil Rights Museum: The resources will provide tools to engage students by prompting them to reflect on big questions about the human experience and how the history relates to contemporary events and everyday life.

The International Storytelling Center is sharing Story Guides for young learners from the National Storytelling Festival. Each week the Center releases a new video with an accompanying curriculum guide, ideal for grades K-8.

show less

Texas

UTSA Institute of Texan Cultures: All of our lesson plans and hands-on activities meet TEKS requirements in Social Studies and can be adapted to meet individual classroom needs.

Irving Arts Center: Study/activity guides are available for select performances and exhibitions and include classroom activities, details about the featured artists, historical time period, the creative process and more.

Fort Worth Museum of Science and History: Create your own at-home STEAM Lab with Discovery Lab Online! We have a large library of hands-on activities to keep you and your family busy.

show less

Virginia

Birthplace of Country Music Museum: Learn about the origins and impact of country music from the 1920s until today, the history and development of Bristol and Appalachia, and the role science and technology play in both music and Bristol history. Download student activity sheets from songwriting and the banjo to important figures from the 1927 Bristol Sessions and Radio Bristol.

George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate and Gardens: Explore educational resources designed to support further exploration into Washington’s world both in and out of the classroom.

show less

Washington

Whatcom Museum: Teacher resources include exhibition guides; local history, Northwest Native American resources, ornithology, photo archives and virtual exhibitions.

Burke Museum: Burke Boxes, portable boxes filled with collections and lesson plans that can be mailed or picked up at the Business Entrance to the museum.

Museum of History and Industry: Online curriculum focusing on the Great Seattle Fire and Century 21 Exposition.

The Museum of Flight: The Boeing Academy for STEM Learning is where students, teachers, and parents chart a path in air and space by engaging in a variety of resources.

Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience: Online access to lesson plans, curriculum sets by ethnic group, and other tools to blend Asian and Pacific Islander histories into social studies, language arts, and history courses.

show less