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Digital Classroom Resources

image collage featuring botanical and insect illustration, golden barrel cacti and a portrait of a woman wearing brown.image collage featuring botanical and insect illustration, golden barrel cacti and a portrait of a woman wearing brown.

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Explore our collections with digital resources for learners of all ages.

Bombus melanopygus, Black Tailed Bumblebee nectaring on Ceanothus flowers.

New Activity: Meet California Native Plants

Meet and learn about meaningful native plants with the California Native Plant Cards deck.

Discover Native Plants

Teaching Collections

Composite image of Declaration of Independence and oak tree.

Roots and Revolution—U.S. History Through Oak Trees (1776–1877)

This collection of primary sources reveals cycles of growth, conflict, and renewal as the country formed, expanded, and struggled with its ideals of equality and freedom from 1776 to 1877.

Explore American History
Image of a California map bordering oranges and flanked by lemon strands.

California’s Industrial Transformation—Snapshots 1860–1939

This collection of primary sources offers a look at what life was like for diverse groups of people during a transformative period of California history.

Explore California History

All About Plants

From plant parts and adaptations to scientific names, we’ve got the dirt on plants.

Dig In
composite image of leaves, stems, roots, flowers, seeds, and fruit.

Plant Parts

single fresh grape leaf atop a black background

Leaves

close up of kale stem atop a black background

Stems

Detail photo of the bulb portion of an onion with the fibrous roots on display on black background

Roots

planted in rocky soil, a spherical green agave plant with white tips is displayed next to its plant label, which shows its common name, scientific name, native range, family, and accession number.

How Are Plants Named?

View of cacti in the Desert Garden. Species include Euphorbia xantii and Pachycereus pringlei.

Plant Adaptations to Dry Environments

Art Spotlights

self portrait done with acrylic paint on paper of an older white man with light, pinkish skin, blue eyes and white facial hair. His close-cropped hair is also white and he is wearing a blue tank top. His face takes up approximately two-thirds of the paper, and he stares directly at the viewer with a slight frown.

Spotlight: Self-portrait, August 8, 2018 by Don Bachardy

Fotografía a color de una mujer negra mayor con cabello blanco y gris recogido en parte superior de su cabeza en una cola de caballo corta y rizada. Lleva una camisa gris holgada y está parada en su estudio de artista, rodeada de relojes de madera, estantes, candelabros y otros artículos diversos.

The Betye Saar Art Box

Portrait of a man's head and neck depicted with masklike facial features, abstracted shapes, and bright colors including blue, white, red, yellow and green.

Artist Spotlight: Sargent Claude Johnson

Black and white woodcut artwork depicting a rising path with a staircase that leads straight up to the top of a hill. Above the staircase, massive trees that seem to be lit from behind tower over the hilltop.

Spotlight: 2506 El Moran by Paul Landacre

View from the front of a small blue/green glazed terracotta sculpture of a young Black boy's head and neck.

Spotlight: Head of a Boy by Sargent Claude Johnson

A detail image of a wood carving.

Spotlight: Organ Screen by Sargent Claude Johnson