Smithsonian Education Resources: Who Qualifies and What You Get
Educators can access digital collections, lesson plans, and virtual field trips through this free digital resource hub.
This program provides teachers and instructors with digital tools and educational content sourced from the Smithsonian Institution. It is designed to bring museum-quality learning directly into the classroom through a digital platform.
Who it's for
This resource is open to all educators. Whether you are teaching in a traditional school setting or working in other instructional capacities, you qualify to use these materials to support your teaching and student engagement.
What you get
The program offers a variety of digital assets to help build comprehensive lessons. You can access extensive digital collections that bring historical and scientific items to your screen. Additionally, the platform provides structured lesson plans that are designed to align with educational needs. For classrooms that cannot visit a museum in person, the service offers virtual field trips, allowing students to explore new environments and collections through a digital interface.
What it costs you
There is no financial cost to use these educational materials. The resources provided by the Smithsonian Institution are free to access, meaning you do not need to pay a subscription fee or purchase individual lesson plans to use them in your teaching.
The catch to know
While all the materials are free to view, there is a small step required if you want to organize your work. If you want to save specific collections, curate your own lists, or keep track of the items you have found for future lessons, you will be required to create a free account on the platform.
How to apply
- Navigate to the official Learning Lab website.
- Explore the various categories of digital collections and lesson plans available in the database.
- Browse the virtual field trips to find topics that match your current curriculum.
- Create a free account to ensure you can save your favorite collections and resources for future use.
- Access the full suite of tools at https://learninglab.si.edu/