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"Encourages students to go back and look at primary documents, such as the Constitution and the letters of the Founders such as Jefferson and Madison to better understand the intended role of Congress in our system of government. Appropriate for classroom use, middle school students and above."

Bring history to life for your students. Ready-to-use tools for teaching with documents in the classroom. Thousands of primary sources. Build your own interactive activities.

The Historical Scene Investigation Project (HSI) was designed for social studies teachers who need a strong pedagogical mechanism for bringing primary sources into their classroom. With the advent and accessibility of the internet, many libraries, universities and government agencies are housing their historical documents online. Simultaneously, there has been a push in K-12 history education to give students experiences that more closely resemble the work of a real historian.

This website reflects the work of several groups of teachers who conducted research at the Smithsonian and other national historical organizations. For this reason, some of the primary sources included in Smithsonian Source are not from the Smithsonian collections. Teachers also chose the historical topics on the site, and these categories reflect their curricula rather than the terminology or organizational methods of the Smithsonian Institution.

"US History Tours powered by Google Earth. This new format traces historical developments across time, touching down on locations vital to our nation's heritage and development. Points of interest in each tour launch primary and multimedia sources."

"Link primary sources to locations on a map to practice spatial thinking and understand the impact of geographic factors in history."

"As explorers of the past, we can look at a variety of sources-maps, letters, diaries, objects, music, images, and more-to piece together a sense of the Civil War's complexity. The images and related resources from this poster are designed to get students thinking about how primary sources can help uncover stories about the past. As the poster illustrates, it takes many sources to create a more complete picture of the Civil War. Use this interactive poster to begin a conversation with students about what we know about the past, and especially about our nation's most deadly conflict, the Civil War."