RESOURCES

The Anchorage Museum offers a multitude of free resources for teachers including worksheets, traveling artifact kits, and research aids.

FOCUSED TRIP SHEETS
Download K-12 student activity sheets to help guide your field trip experience during free-choice exploration. These simple, adaptable trip sheets include activities for the gallery, as well as suggested pre- and post-visit activities for the classroom. Trip sheet options are listed to the right.

TRAVELING MUSEUM ARTIFACT KITS
With the museum’s traveling artifact kits, students can touch historical objects while learning about Alaska’s past. The artifact kits are free to all Alaska educators and are available for pick-up and drop-off at the museum’s Education Department. Artifact kits can be shipped to schools outside the Anchorage area for the cost of shipping.

ARTIFACT KIT OPTIONS
ANCIENT MYSTERIES (K-12)
This kit includes bone, stone, and wooden artifacts from St. Lawrence Island and spurs discussion about ancient Arctic technologies, subsistence, survival strategies, archaeology, and more.

BERING SEA AND BEYOND (K-12)
This kit contains natural samples and objects pertaining to Yup’ik and Iñupiat Native cultures. Students can touch seal and sea otter skin, try on snow goggles, and compare ivory and whale bone.

PEOPLE OF THE RAVEN (K-12)
This kit introduces Athabascan and Tlingit Native cultures with samples of natural materials, traditional tools, and beautifully crafted artifacts.

WORLD WAR II IN THE ALEUTIANS (7-12)
World War II had a significant impact on Alaska. Three distinct groups of people were brought together on the Aleutian Islands during this time: American military personnel, Japanese soldiers, and evacuated Unanga (Aleut) civilians. These educational kits explore personal stories from each group through interviews, documents, photographs, and objects. Kits contain lesson plans, maps, films and more. There are three WWII kits available:

AMERICAN STORY For two years Albert Aiken flew regular bombing missions to Kiska and Attu. Albert’s letters to and from his fiancée reflect daily life during war. Another set of documents comes from pilot John Cape who was shot down during the Dutch Harbor bombing.

ALEUT STORY
On June 12, 1942, 12-year-old Alice Petrivelli watched in disbelief as her village, Atka, was set on fire. Larry Chercasen, 7, remembered waking up under his dad’s arm as he ran for shelter during the Dutch Harbor bombing. This kit brings to life how these two children struggled with evacuation.

JAPANESE STORY
Twenty-five excerpts from Japanese veterans’ memoirs describe life on Kiska, from landing to evacuation, and reflect on the tragic result of the Attu battle for Japanese soldiers and their families.

Learn more at travelingkits@anchoragemuseum.org or (907) 929-9270.
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RESEARCH
ATWOOD RESOURCE CENTER
As the Anchorage Museum’s library and archives, the Atwood Resource Center maintains a library of more than 12,000 titles with the primary focus on the history, ethnography, and art of Alaska and the circumpolar North. The archival collections, including more than 500,000 photographs, are also available for on-site research. Materials do not circulate, but teachers are welcome to reference the collection.

SMITHSONIAN ONLINE
The educational resources for the exhibition Living Our Cultures, Sharing Our Heritage: The First Peoples of Alaska, produced by the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center at the Anchorage Museum, include an exhibition catalog (for sale here) and the Sharing Knowledge website. The website presents information on Alaska Native cultures and all objects on exhibit and more, with in-depth information. The site also includes a downloadable teacher’s guide and lessons (right side of this page), with worksheets for students and pre- and post-visit activity suggestions.
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SINGLETARY EDUCATOR GUIDE
848k PDF file

SINGLETARY BIBLIOGRAPHY
94k PDF file

SMITHSONIAN LESSON PLANS
5,533K PDF file

SMITHSONIAN TEACHER GUIDE
3,397k PDF file