The Buffalo Bill Center of the West offers these many resources for teachers and students, including tour maps, Skype in the Classroom lessons, and our Education Opportunities Guide.
NEW! Free Professional Development Opportunities
The Center is excited to offer some exciting new professional development opportunities. We can visit schools in person, through Skype in the Classroom, or you can come to us.
For more information about these workshops, email Megan Smith or contact her at (307)578-4028 .
Art’s Contribution to the Conservation of Public Lands and National Forests in the West
The Buffalo Bill Center of the West, the National Museum of Forest Service History, and the Library of Congress are offering a free professional development workshop focusing on the question “How did art drive the American conservation movement and the development of National Forests and public lands in the west?” In this unique workshop, participants will focus on art as primary sources including photographs, advertising posters, original artworks, images, and object databases.
The workshop will take place both at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, WY and also in the beautiful Paradise Valley in Emigrant, Montana. Travel stipends are available.
The workshop will provide an opportunity to:
Learn how to access, save, and present primary sources and additional resources from Library of Congress, Buffalo Bill Center of the West, and National Museum of Forest Service History.
Create products such as lesson plans, activities, and supplementary curriculum that can be used with students
Collaborate and network with teachers across the country.
Bringing Primary Sources Alive in Your Classroom
Primary resource challenge – think outside the box! During this professional development session, teachers will dive into the availability of online collections, library archives, art, and three-dimensional objects to use as primary resources. Teacher’s will leave with the tools to create their own lesson that they can bring back to their classroom. Center educators can design a program based on your specific needs.
What’s Art Got to Do with Science and Culture?
Let’s get creative in how teachers can bring art into their classroom. During this workshop, teachers will bring an interdisciplinary approach into how they can use art when covering content areas such as science, social studies, literacy, culture, and even math.
What’s the Story: Teaching with Objects in Your Classroom to Facilitate Student Centered-Learning
Did you every think different kinds of shoes have a story? Or maybe, different hats? Together we’ll work with teachers to uncover the hidden stories about objects centered around our Plains Indian collection at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West. Then teachers can take what they’ve learned back to their classroom. Visit our Skype in the Classroom page to learn more. Click on the photo below to get a sneak peek into this professional development experience.
Explore Plains Indian Culture and History
Looking to enrich your curriculum with primary resources through photos, art, and oral histories? This rich content will help teachers and students, whether they have visited the Center or not. Visit the following links to explore Plains Indian culture and history.
and find out more about the educational opportunities you can find with the Buffalo Bill Center of the West.
Plains Indian Map Project
This Plains Indian Map—created with generous funding from The Brown Foundation, Inc., of Houston—is a fusion of scholarship and educational interpretation. The map represents 230 years of movement on the Plains amongst more than 45 different Indian cultures. Territorial, treaty, reservation, and state boundaries flow in an animated timeline.
The innovative scholarship and interpretation showcased in this map is recommended for a broad audience, including K–12 teachers and students. Viewers can pause the online animation at any point to study a particular map.
Borrow a Backpack
Consider checking out one of our new backpacks while at the Center! This new resource will enhance your self-guided field trip experience through hands-on learning. Click here to find out more. Call 307-578-4028 today to reserve a backpack and other materials for your field trip.
BRAND NEW! Teacher Guides for our Guided Tours
The following guides are available for teachers to print. Each guide contains objectives, standards, pre- and post-visit activities, and a resource list. Click on the images below for each tour to view its teacher guide.
BRAND NEW! Scavenger Hunts
Scavenger Hunts are available now for self-guided exploration on your field trip to the Center. Please print scavenger hunts for your students prior to your field trip visit.
Click on the photo below to download our scavenger hunts. This document contains scavenger hunts for all museums, except the Cody Firearms Museum.
Skype in the Classroom
The Buffalo Bill Center of the West is part of Skype in the Classroom. You can visit the Center virtually by signing up for one of our participatory lessons. Click here to learn more about our partnership with Microsoft in Education’s Skype in the Classroom—and then schedule a lesson with us! Microsoft in Education has recognized the Center as an Educator Community Influencer, an Educator Community Contributor, and a Certified Microsoft Innovative Educator.
BRAND NEW! Indian Education for All K-12 Resources
Visit our new Indian Education for All Resources page to access all our onsite, outreach, and online offerings that meet Montana and Wyoming’s Indian Education for All component in these state’s Social Studies Standards.
Lending Materials
The Buffalo Bill Center of the West also offers outreach trunks, learning kits, and DVDs on a variety of subjects, including western art, history, culture, Yellowstone natural history, and more. Click here to find out the details and submit a request online.
Center of the West Online Collections
Visit our new Online Collections database, where you and your class can browse our artifact collection and create your own “Virtual Exhibits.”
