National Museum of Natural History

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“Our work is built on a foundation of scientific research by the Museum’s staff of over 150 scientists and curators as well as the national and international community of scientists. There are more than 126 million artifacts and specimens in our collections.”

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History website has documents and data about the museum’s research and the national collections, which comprise more than 120 million scientific specimens and cultural artifacts from around the world. Information about programs and projects at the Museum or produced in cooperation with other organizations, supporting the museum’s mission of understanding the natural world and our place in it is available through this site.Get an online glimpse of the museums current collections that revolve around themes such as pearls or orchids or African voices. Or take a virtual tour of the museum! The Research and Collections portion of the site offers not only a deeper look at some of the museum’s collection but also includes historical and scientific contexts as well as current research--find topics such as studies of subarctic peoples, unmasking the Mayans, dinosaurs, and meteorites.Teachers may wish to explore the Educational Resources to find information about education services and items for download, such as a mammal teaching guide and links to resources that explore Lewis & Clark as naturalists.