Geography, History, Culture
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Museums & Cultural Institutions - Remote Access
Museums
9/11 Memorial and Museum. “September 11, 2001: The Day That Changed the World.” “This educational exhibition recounts the events of September 11, 2001, through the personal stories of those who witnessed and survived the attacks. Told across 14 posters, this exhibition includes archival photographs and images of artifacts from the Museum’s permanent collection.” "Coronavirus Lockdown: Gallery Pieces Become Online Jigsaw Puzzles." BBC News, 5 Apr. 2020. Feliciano, Jolanta. "Virtual Field Trips." Padlet, 2020. Jones, Amanda. "Journey with Jones: Leading Virtual Field Trips during COVID-19." KQ, AASL, 30 Mar. 2020, Ms Jones has figured out - and shares - how to lead your own virtual field trip - without leaving home! She also offers a link to see the trips she has led. Jones, Drew. "12 Historic Sites You Can Virtually Tour from the Couch during the Coronavirus Outbreak." Washington Post, 18 Mar. 2020. Kessler, Linda, and Audrey Eads. "North Texas Zoos, Planetariums and More Are Keeping Families Engaged." Dallas Morning News,6 April 2020. "Help time fly with activities and games, virtual tours, videos of animals and oddities, and so much more." Kozin, Daniel. "People Are Re-creating Famous Works of Art at Home in Isolation." AFAR, 13 Apr. 2020. "'Learning Through Art' at Home." Museum of Fine Arts Houston, 2020. Online materials to use now, whether you are a parent who wants new ways to think about art with your kids, or perhaps you're teaching school remotely and need fresh ideas. These materials are designed to be used with the MFAH art collections. Find a work of art via the Learning Through Art online resource, and try your hand at sketching, poetry, science, and more. Each activity offers fun for the grades and ages indicated. Feel free to explore them all. Many can be modified for other ages, too. Solly, Meilan. "Eight Digital Education Resources from the Smithsonian." Smithsonian Magazine, 17 Mar. 2020. The newly launched #SmithsonianEdu campaign highlights 1.7 million online tools geared specifically toward students and teachers. "A Virtual Playground for Your Mind." Childrens Museum Houston, Mar. 2020. Offering both a daily schedule to "Extend learning at home with daily inspiration and activities." and a Facebook Live access point to the same programming. "Smithsonian Open Access." Smithsonian Open Access, Smithsonian.org. Welcome to Smithsonian Open Access, where you can download, share, and reuse millions of the Smithsonian's images—right now, without asking. With new platforms and tools, you have easier access to nearly 3 million 2D and 3D digital items from our collections—with many more to come. This includes images and data from across the Smithsonian's 19 museums, nine research centers, libraries, archives, and the National Zoo. "Rock Hall Edu." Rock Hall Edu, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Waldorf, Sarah, and Annelisa Stephan. "Getty Artworks Recreated with Household Items by Creative Geniuses the World Over." The Iris, Behind the Scenes at the Getty, The Getty, 30 Mar. 2020. For local Houston inspiration, here’s the Menil website. |
Geography
Social Studies Open Culture website Geography
50 States of Wonder: Curiosity from Coast to Coast. Atlas Obscura. “America is ancient and new, constantly remade and reimagined, and there are unsung, overlooked treasures everywhere. At a time when COVID-19 is keeping many people at home or close to home, we want to bring you along for a digital road trip. Welcome to 50 States of Wonder, Atlas Obscura’s state-by-state guide to some of the country’s most curious sights.” 50 Birds, 50 States. National Geographic Kids. “Barry the bald eagle soars from coast to coast to meet state birds and learn about their homes. Each [video] episode is an animated rap music video focusing on the big cities, history, landmarks, and significant geographical areas of each state.” “Fifty: Photo collections from every state in the Union—a new entry each Sunday through 2020.” Atlantic magazine, 2020. A new state is added each Sunday. Irish, Jonathan, photographer. Beautiful photos of All 61 US National Parks. National Geographic. National Geographic. “Classroom Resources.” Sorted for for K-2, 3-5, and 6-12. Includes mapping activities as well as science articles. National Geographic. “Connecting with the World of Maps.” Earth Science, Climatology, Geography, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for grades 5+. Seterra. More than 300 online map quizzes in 36 languages for students. Free printables allow for handwritten quizzes. The website is free but the app is $1.99 for iOS or Android. Social Studies/History
Alzola, Briana. “Fifth-grade History Project Explores Life During Pandemic.” GoAnacortes blog, 1 July 2020. “What will a fifth-grader in the year 2050 think of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the world? As teacher Gabrielle Glim tried to teach her fifth-grade students about the importance of primary sources when studying the past, she noticed they seemed to have other things on their minds. They were at home due to the pandemic, trying to learn remotely about the American Revolution. … She … came across a history project that urged students to document their lives right now and become the primary sources that could be used in the future to document this time in history.” Bensfield, Anne and Pamela Rogers. “8 Podcasts About Civics and U.S. History | Kidcasts.” SLJ, 20 May 2020. Betts, Timothy. “Mr. Betts’ Class.” “In order to make the content come alive, I had to speak the language of the students,” explains Mr. Betts. “Video is the main medium for consuming information for this age group.” In parodies of popular songs, Mr. Betts explores topics such as the lost colony of Roanoke (set to Frozen’s “Let It Go”) and the United States Constitution (set to the song of the summer “Despacito”). Constitution Center. Interactive Constitution. Maybe more for secondary students, but how cool is this to get to look in depth at our US Constitution. Dar, Mahnaz. “Beyond COVID-19: 7 Virtual Museum Exhibits That Explore Pandemics.” SLJ, 20 Aug 2020. “With most museums still closed, digital exhibits offer opportunities to consider outbreaks past and present from a safe distance. While some exhibits remind us that what we’re undergoing now is nothing new, others offer more information on the current COVID-19 crisis.” Molitor, Scott & Lynn. “George Washington Mt. Vernon Virtual Tour.” Founders Washington Committee for Historic Mt. Vernon. US Government Printing Office. “Ben’s Guide.” Levels of Apprentice (ages 4-8), Journeyman (ages 9-13), and Master (ages 14+) offer lessons and games “by” Ben Franklin to support better understanding of our US government. Maybe this is a great time to learn more about how the US federal government is supposed to work! Yorio, Kara. “Texas High School Teacher Zooms Into Remote Classes from U.S. Historical Sites and Landmarks.” SLJ, 31 Aug 2020. “Like so many of her peers, Cathy Cluck spent the weeks before the 2020-21 school year started wondering how she could establish relationships with new students when teaching remotely. … ‘What if I just taught history from the places where it happened?’” Memphis tn; Jamestown VA; Gettysburg PA; Charlottesville VA; and more. This is a short video of the sun shining through the oculus of the Pantheon in Rome posted by MiBACT, the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities (Italy).
"Open Culture" might be the best free cultural and educational media on the web. Not directly for children as some content is adults only - but otherwise, an incredible resource I never heard of! It brings together high-quality cultural & educational media for the worldwide lifelong learning community. Web 2.0 has given us great amounts of intelligent audio and video. It's all free. It's all enriching. But it's also scattered across the web, and not easy to find. Our whole mission is to centralize this content, curate it, and give you access to this high quality content whenever and wherever you want it. Some of our major resource collections include:
1,500 Free Online Courses from Top Universities 1,150 Free Movies Online: Great Classics, Indies, Noir, Westerns, etc. 1,000 Free Audio Books: Download Great Books for Free 800 Free eBooks for iPad, Kindle & Other Devices MOOCs from Great Universities (Many With Certificates) Learn 46 Languages Online for Free: Spanish, Chinese, English & More 200 Free Kids Educational Resources: Video Lessons, Apps, Books, Websites & More |