Educator's Page
Welcome to the Illinois State Museum's Website for Educators.
explore. discover. learn. share.
Please explore this site and feel free to use the activities, lessons, videos, and worksheets in your classroom. New pages will be added as materials are developed. Several pages offer a virtual version of past exhibits with activities. Each page represents a different exhibit or topic.
Lower Elementary
Video -More to Know Than Martin & Rosa
Animals of Illinois Unit & Videos
Activities, Videos, bat poster
Videos on rocks and minerals
Paper dolls & coloring pages of past clothing from the 1800s.
Video and an activity.
Videos and an animated short story.
Virtual Exhibit about stories of people who immigrated to Illinois.
Art exhibit made for children.
Art exhibit made for children.
Storytellers videos about Illinois. Different topics on animals, history, & plants
Upper Elementary
Great Migration Unit, videos, and virtual exhibits
Videos on Animals
Archaeological activities and videos, Cahokia Unit
Video about caves and bats.
Videos about different geological times, minerals, and caves
Virtual exhibit and videos about clothing from the 1800s.
Videos about fossils and time periods.
Great Migration Unit with videos, activities, and reading materials.
Cahokia Unit, videos, reading materials
Activites, units on Illinois History, videos.
Activities and videos
Activities, virtual exhibit, videos
Journal of a Plague Year: Illinois
Virtual exhibiti, activities, video
Activities, looking at objects
Activities, virtual exhibit on immigration to Illinois
Storytellers videos about Illinois. Different topics on animals, history, & plants
Art exhibit made for children.
Art exhibit made for children.
In Her Footsteps: Women's History Trail (Illinois)
Stories of Women from Illinois.
Climate Change in Your Backyard
Virtual exhibit, book lists
Middle/Jr. High School
Virtual exhibits, videos, activities
Archaeological activities and videos with some information on Cahokia.
Activities, bats and disease
Videos about different geological times, reading materials
Virtual exhibit, videos about clothing from the 1800s, activities
Videos about fossils and time periods.
Videos, activities, and reading material
Videos, reading materials, activities
Videos
Videos & pictures of mussels
Activities, virtual exhibit, videos
Journal of a Plague Year: Illinois
Virtual exhibiti, activities, video
Activities, looking at objects
Activities, virtual exhibit on immigration to Illinois
In Her Footsteps: Women's History Trail (Illinois)
Stories of Women from Illinois, reading material
Climate Change in Your Backyard
Virtual exhibit, book lists
High School
Virtual exhibits, videos, activities, Redlining Unit
Archaeological activities and videos with some information on Cahokia.
Activities, bats and disease
Videos about different geological times, reading materials
Virtual exhibit, videos about clothing from the 1800s, activities
Videos about fossils and time periods.
Videos, activities, and reading material
Videos, reading materials, activities
Videos
Videos & pictures of mussels
Activities, virtual exhibit, videos
Journal of a Plague Year: Illinois
Virtual exhibits, activities, video
Activities, looking at objects
Activities, virtual exhibit on immigration to Illinois
In Her Footsteps: Women's History Trail (Illinois)
Stories of Women from Illinois, reading material
Climate Change in Your Backyard
Virtual exhibit, book lists
Resources
Explore activities, coloring sheets, games, and resources for families to use at home. Many of these activities can be adapted for classroom or remote learning use. Geared to preschool and elementary.
Professional Development Opportunities for Teachers
Join the Illinois State Museum for engaging teacher professional development workshops.
In Her Footstep: Women's History Trail
Throughout time, women have made history. This site features female history makers with a connection to Illinois. “In Her Footsteps Women’s History Trail” seeks to highlight the stories of Illinois history makers and offer resources for continued learning.
These are additional resources that are available from the Museum which include ISM YouTube Channel, past exhibits and learning modules, 3D Scans of Collections, blogs about different topics, and other items.
History
Explore the history of Illinois with units developed with teachers for students in upper elementary (3rd-5th grade).
Explore exhibits, collection items, and educational material related to African American History.
Explores immigration in Illinois using the past exhibit We Are Illinoisans. This virtual exhibit highlights immigrants to Illinois from the 18th century to today through photos, objects, and life stories. Includes crowd sourced photos.
This website, which was developed to celebrate the Illinois Bicentennial, features objects from the Illinois State Museum and museums across the State. The Illinois State Museum periodically uploads additional objects from its Illinois Legacy Collection.
Fashioning Illinois, 1820-1900
Explores fashion from the time of Illinois' statehood to turn of the century and looks at many aspects of 19th Century life.
Explore resources to use in teaching about Indigenous People (Native American, American Indian, Native People) in your classroom.
Journal of a Plague Year: Illinois in 2020
This exhibition, features entries received in the Museum. The title, inspired by Daniel Defoe’s 1722 book Journal of a Plague Year, was chosen to put the current COVID-19 pandemic in the context of historical pandemics, or "plagues," as well as allude to a common feeling, popularized in the media, that this year's pandemic and its fallout have made 2020 extraordinarily challenging.
Springfield-based photographer Zach Adams was one of the first people to submit to the ISM's collecting initiative. He expanded his subject matter to include images of local protests and rallies. The ISM's front porch served as the backdrop for several of his images that document Springfield's demonstrations on equal justice.
Explore the period of time called the Great Migration using primary source documents and children's picture books to understand a little more about this period of Black migration in U.S. History.
Explore the science of archaeology and how archaeologists learn about the past through the objects left behind.
Science
Explore the animal of Illinois. Primarily focus on elementary.
Explore the bats of Illinois through virtual field trip, pictures, and activities.
Explore the geology collection.
Explore the paleontology collection.
Explores Illinois Mussels and their importance in the environment. Includes Mussel Mondays Information and Harvesting the River, Pearl Button Exhibit.
Climate Change in Your Backyard
A warming planet impacts nature, society, and individuals in ways that might surprise you. The Illinois State Museum's new exhibit Climate Change in Your Backyard will present examples of how climate change is shaping Illinoisan lives in the heartland.