This Learning Collection was developed to guide students in exploring the evolution of space suit design as a lead-in to NASA's recent Space Suit Design challenge. This is also bei...

Students study an object from antiquity that was found in the sea off the coast of Italy in order to understand how conservators remove and prevent corrosion on bronze statues. The...

In this activity, students explore the importance of charts to navigation on bodies of water. Using one worksheet, students learn to read the major map features found on a real nau...

A collection of videos and artifacts relating to the Red Planet. This collection was created to support the 2016 CCSSO Teachers of the Year Day at the Smithsonian.

Students learn about and use a right triangle to determine the width of a "pretend" river. Working in teams, they estimate of the width of the river, measure it and compare their r...

Students use vector analysis to understand the concept of dead reckoning. They use vectors to plot a course based on a time and speed. Then they correct the positions with vectors ...

How Tall Are We?

Students will learn the ten steps of the engineering design process. Through video clips, quick-writes and think-pair-share activities, the students will become engaged with the co...

Students will learn the basic principles of passive solar heating and how it isapplied to home design. Students will use Google SketchUp to design and create a passive solar additi...

What do plants eat? This unit explores plants and how they make food.

shows daily (back to June 16 1995) a different image or photograph of the universe along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

In this lesson, students will create their own "camera obscura" out of a cardboard tube to explore and reinforce the fact that light travels in straight lines.

In this animated video segment adapted from NASA, astronomer Doris Daou explains how the forces of speed and gravity keep the Moon in a constant orbit around Earth.