A sampling from the Smithsonian pan-institutional collections documenting the work of William Healey Dall.

<p>Watch these videos of birds. Use the "What Makes You Say That?" visible thinking routine, one of the visible thinking routines developed by Project Zero. This routine helps students describe what they see or know and asks them to build explanations. This is an introductory activity for a unit on birds or adaptation. The activity's strategy is intended to be used with the whole class to have a conversation about the topic. </p> <p>First, watch the video on gannets -- without sound -- using the prompts "What's going on? What do you see that makes you say that?" Discuss responses. Then watch the video with sound and compare.</p> <p>Second, watch one or more of the short videos documenting a Black-backed Woodpecker, Bee Hummingbird, New Zealand Falcon, Laughing Kookaburra, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Oystercatcher, American Goldfinch, Osprey and Orange-crowned Warbler. Focus students' attention on the beak, asking them to describe how birds use their beaks and citing evidence to support their claims.</p>

<p>A box is a container with a flat base and sides, typically square or rectangular and having a lid.  Or is it?  Look at the collection of boxes.  How do you think these boxes are used?  How are they different in shape? size? material?  Why do you think they are so different?</p>

A collection of letters written during the Civil War.

This is a teaching collection about the Wright Brothers and their invention process. What is the difference between innovation and invention?

This is a collection that shows many different types of butterflies. Why do butterflies vary? What are the processes in nature that result in biodiversity? How is this process different from innovations created by people?

A collection with housekeeping images from different cultures and times. A parent could ask: How has housekeeping changed over time? What are some of the tasks in order to keep a house? What are people doing in the images? What are the tools you use?

The archived sessions from a two-part online course led by Dr. Victor Sampson, Associate Professor of STEM Education at the University of Texas at Austin, on scientific argumentation -- helping students to identify, evaluate and support claims. See Smithsonian collections used during the sessions at https://s.si.edu/1L0YP81 .

Looking at baseball in many countries.

Throughout history we have sought to better understand our world by viewing it from above. We first climbed trees, hills and fortress towers to observe the lay of the land. Today, aircraft and spacecraft look down on Earth to predict the weather, survey the terrain, monitor crops and forests, plan cities, locate resources, and gather intelligence. This teachers guide and student activity includes an online exhibition, Looking at Earth, with background information on aerial imagery and aerial photographs of towns and cities in Africa. Divide students into small groups and ask each group to examine a different photograph responding to the following statements or questions: 1) Describe the physical (natural) features in the photograph. 2) Describe the human-made characteristics. 3) Identify the ways in which people use the land. 4) Do the streets form a grid or some other pattern? 5) Identify regions within the photograph defined by the ways in which the land is used (residential, commercial, industrial, recreational, transportation). Ask each group to share their findings with the entire class. Discuss how the African towns and cities are different and the role of geography in defining a place. Locate the different towns and cities on a map of Africa.

A carte de visite is a photograph the size of a visiting card, and such photograph cards were traded among friends and visitors and saved in albums. This teaching collection includes carte de visites of people who lived during the Civil War. The purpose of the collection is to consider their different points of view and experiences. Each student receives a different carte de visite and researches that person. During classroom discussions of Civil War events, students comment from the perspective of the person they researched.

This teaching collection includes a teaching poster, website, video, and digital images about the six milestones of flight.