<p>This is a topical collection about American life and politics in the 1980s. Resources in this collection might be helpful to students and teachers working on projects about the decade. It is not meant to be completely comprehensive, but rather includes highlights of the Smithsonian's collection spanning art, popular culture, social trends, leadership, and technology.</p><p>Teachers and students might copy and adapt this collection to suit their needs; highlighting a specific aspect of life in the 1980s and adding annotations and additional resources.</p><p>tags: Eighties, Reagan, George H. W. Bush, rap, detente, Vietnam, politics, decade, Cold War, Olympics, boycott, space shuttle, star wars, Reaganomics, trickle-down</p>

<p>This collection of artifacts, photographs, texts, and historical markers is intended to help students explore the history of the Mormon religion in America. </p><p>Each of these items is intended to spark inquiry, following the process below: </p><ol><li>Students should choose one artifact on which to focus. </li><li>Have them use the artifact analysis PDF (last resource) to begin their study of the artifact. </li><li>Next, have students generate questions about the artifact? What do they wonder about? What does it tell them about the Mormon religion or its history within the United States? </li><li>Have students complete some general research on their artifact that will help their classmates piece together the story of the Mormon experience.</li></ol><p>As a collaborative project, students should use the PBS Forced Migrations map/timeline as a model for a class map/timeline of their own. </p><ol><li>Project an image of the map on a class whiteboard or create your own basic outline using large paper. </li><li>Have each student present their research findings. The main questions they should answer are: What does it represent about the Mormon experience? Where would the artifact they chose be placed (geographically and in terms of chronology)? </li><li>Students should then place place their image on the map with significant dates noted. </li><li>After all groups have presented, review the narrative of the Mormon experience with the class. What would they identify as critical moments in Mormon history? What questions do they still have?</li></ol><div>Tags: religion, Moroni, Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, Mormon, New York, Utah, Illinois, gold plates, inquiry</div>

<p>As we continue to read "The Grapes of Wrath," I'd like you to consider the way in which California represents the "American Dream." How has this changed over time? Has California always lived up to its image? Consider who has access to dreams and opportunities in California at any given time. </p><p>After you look through the collection, choose one of the following assignments to complete and submit your assignment using the "Submit File" option that is part of the last resource. Hint: you may want to take notes and/or save images as you are browsing the resources here. </p><p>Possible assignments:</p><p>1) Create a timeline of "Opportunities Gained and Lost" in California using at least 8 images from the collection. For each image, identify who is gaining or losing an opportunity in this instance, and what kind of opportunity is being referenced. Remember this is a timeline and will need to be in chronological order by year. Complete your timeline with an image that you have found (from the Learning Lab or an outside resource) that represents California today.</p><p>2) Would you argue that "California is a land of dreams"? How could you change that statement to make it more accurate? Write an essay defending your statement that references at least 4 images from this collection. You may want to do some additional research to supplement your essay.</p><p>Tags: point of view, change, continuity, cause, effect, Dust Bowl, drought, migrant, migration, chronology, Steinbeck</p>

<p>This collection includes items that will help you understand the conditions that led to the growth of slavery and the ways in which enslaved persons resisted slavery. <br /><br />Guiding Questions:</p> <ol><li>Why did slavery become increasingly important, especially in the Southern colonies?</li><li>How did "slave laws" support the system of slavery?</li><li>What does it mean to "resist" slavery? </li><li>How did white slave-owners respond to such actions? </li><li>Is maintaining a distinct cultural heritage a form of resistance? Why or why not? </li><li>How do religion, art, and music encourage resistance?</li></ol><p>You will answer your group's assigned question using at least 3 pieces of appropriate evidence from the collection included here. </p> <p><br /></p> <p><br /></p> <p><br /></p>

<p>The West has always held a special place in American culture. In 1893, Frederick Jackson Turner wrote what is known as the "frontier thesis," arguing that our sense of democracy and hard work has been shaped by experience of survival and growth along the frontier. More than a century later, Americans still idolize the cowboy image and are fascinated by the train robbers, saloons, and violence of the era. How accurate is our mental picture of the "Wild West"? What were the realities of life on the frontier in the late 19th and early 20th century? What was lost and what was gained as America closed out the frontier? Most importantly, why has the West continued to fascinate Americans and play such a prominent role in popular culture?</p> <p>This learner resource includes images, artifacts, and movies that deal with the concept of the American West.  Students will want to read Turner's essay and answer the attached questions. Then, they will focus on choosing images and ideas to include in a movie trailer or poster advertisement that presents a more accurate image of turn of the century western life.</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>

<p>Have your students (or you) caught the Hamilton bug inspired by Lin-Manuel Miranda's musical? This collection is filled with resources and teaching ideas about the founding father. With his musical, Miranda has transformed teaching the Founding Fathers from distant and un-relatable to a relevant story of a hustling immigrant whose rise helps progress the American Revolution and set the new nation on track to become the economic powerhouse that it remains today.</p> <p>Tags: Alexander Hamilton, ten dollar bill, Aaron Burr, duel, treasurer, financial plan, Federalist</p><p>#SmithsonianMusic<br /></p>

<p>This collection includes an iconic labor union poster and is intended as a warm-up activity for a lesson on labor unions in the late 19th and early 20th century. Discussion questions and songs by and about Joe Hill are included. </p> <p>Guiding questions to consider:<br />-What conditions led to the development of labor unions?<br />-How did the philosophy of the IWW, or Wobblies, differ from other labor unions?<br />-Why has Hill remained an iconic figure for the labor movement?</p><p>#SmithsonianMusic<br /></p>

This is a collection of teaching resources about droughts and the Dust Bowl. While it is mainly focused on 20th century American history, there are also some links to articles that cover droughts more broadly across time and cultures. I have included some artists (Woody Guthrie, John Steinbeck, nda Dorothea Lange) who recorded the effects of the Dust Bowl on American society. There is also a selection of lesson plans and videos that explain how farming practices and environmental changes lead to droughts, and how people have responded by changing practices and developing new technologies. <br /> <br /> Resources in this collection might be used in Language Arts, Social Studies, or Science classrooms. Questions to consider might include:<br /> -How do people impact their environment?<br /> -How do changes to the environment impact peoples' lives?<br /> -How did government and society respond to the disaster of the Dust Bowl? <br /> -What is government's responsibility in times of natural disaster?<br /> -What steps can be taken to prevent future environmental disasters?<br /> <br />

<p>As part of the AP US Government and Politics course, students learn how the “Fourteenth Amendment’s equal protection clause as well as other constitutional provisions have often been used to support the advancement of equality.” They are also asked to explore how individuals and groups help protect civil liberties and civil rights; another standard notes that “Public policy promoting civil rights is influenced by citizen-state interactions and constitutional interpretation over time.”</p> <p>This collection invites students to explore that process by learning more about the local and national history of the disability rights movement, and then imagining how future movements could build and expand on both the 14th Amendment and the Americans with Disabilities Act. In a typical AP US Government and Politics course, this could be taught as part of an introduction to Unit 3 (which addresses Civil Rights and Civil Liberties). </p> <p>It is designed as two 70 minute lessons with possibilities for extension, to be used in a remote learning or physical classroom environment.  The first day's lesson could be spent on the warm up and completing the timeline tracker, while the second day leaves time for discussion and possible further research. </p> <p>#civicdiscourse</p>

<p>You could be exceptionally well-dressed if the Smithsonian were your closet. #MySmithsonianCloset</p>