User Image

NMAAHC Education

Smithsonian Staff

Greetings from the Education Team of the National Museum of African American History and Culture!!

The National Museum of African American History and Culture is the only national museum devoted exclusively to the documentation of African American life, history, and culture.

We are excited to share objects, stories, and resources that tell American history through the African American lens!   Our Learning Lab collections provide ways to explore well-known and lesser-known moments of history by utilizing objects, documents, imagery, and videos to enhance content knowledge, hone historical thinking skills and inspire users to see themselves as agents of change. 

To browse our collections, visit us herehttps://learninglab.si.edu/org...

 If you use our Learning Labs, feel free to send us any thoughts or feedback you may have.


NMAAHC Education's collections

 

Kwanzaa: The Seven Principles - NMAAHC's Essential Historian Skills Series

<p>One of the essential skills for historians to investigate the past is the ability to question a primary source. Primary sources are the building blocks historians use to create history. A primary source is anything created by the historical person, made or existed during the historical period the historian is studying.</p> <p><strong><strong>We will explore the seven principles of Kwanzaa expressed through historical primary sources and narratives</strong><strong>.</strong></strong><br></p> <p>Some of the answers of the past are locked in primary sources. Historians access these answers by asking various questions to get a variety of answers to help them gain a fuller understanding of the primary source.</p> <p>This collection features two methods of questioning:</p> <ul><li><strong>Analyzing primary sources</strong> – questions asking specific information about the primary source</li><li><strong>Historical questioning skills</strong> – asking six questions that put a primary source in the larger context of a historical topic</li></ul> <p>In this collection, you will practice becoming a historian by questioning primary sources centered on <strong>the seven principles of Kwanzaa represented in African American history</strong>.</p>
NMAAHC Education
38
 

All Aboard "The Real McCoy": How Elijah McCoy Changed Transportation

<p>Elijah McCoy's work was an integral part of the industrial revolution. Born to fugitive slaves who escaped from Kentucky to Ontario, Canada via the Underground Railroad, Elijah was always a curious kid who was interested in how things worked. He got a mechanical engineering apprenticeship in Edinburgh, Scotland and later on was employed by the Michigan Railroad as a fireman. It was his experience working with trains that inspired his invention, the lubricating cup, along with at least 40 lubricating devices that he patented. These devices were used in trains, ships, and factories, laying the foundation for faster transportation and manufacturing of goods that. </p> <p>Along with learning about Elijah McCoy, students will cover the application of constant rates of change, and exponential growth. To complete this lesson, students will need to be familiar with the concept of graphing and will leave with a better understanding of formulating linear and exponential equations.</p>
NMAAHC Education
28