The Center on Congress, led by former U.S. Representative Lee Hamilton, exists to help the public better understand the role of Congress and the public's relationship to it. Their audience includes the general public, teachers, and journalists.

Your first thought as an educator may be to click on Teacher Resources. However, this section is more of a gateway to content in Learn About Congress than a section unto itself. That said, Classroom Resources does include a tool for paring down the site's educational materials to the appropriate grade level and topic, as well as best practices videos of lessons in action.

Learning About Congress has the widest variety of content useful to the K-12 educator. Resources include approximately 8 interactive modules, more than 20 short animated videos, a collection of live-action video clips of "insider views," more than 30 brief audio presentations on issues ranging from disaster relief to bilingual education, and a variety of relevant reading material. The spoken narration on the interactive modules tends to be dry, and would more than likely only be of use in the higher grades. However, the animated videos are enthusiastically narrated, making them more appropriate for a wider range of viewers. A free Citizen's Guide helps to connect daily life to the actions of Congress. The guide is not unlike a textbook in terms of language and graphic design. As such, its format should be readily accessible and familiar to the average student.

Depending on your computer access and comfort with online activities, you may also be interested in the Virtual Congress where your students can create members of Congress, move their avatars through digital recreations of key locations, and participate in a "multi-player" setting proposing legislation. Another option is Teaching with Primary Sources, a joint effort between the Center on Congress and the Library of Congress, providing separate entry points for teachers and students. These offerings require free registration.

Other items of interest on the site include results of public and political scientists' surveys on Congress' function, beginning in 2002; a blog concerning topics relevant to current Congressional issues; and Congressional FAQs. Teachers can also apply for the American Civic Education Teacher Awards.

The Presidential Timeline curates and presents primary sources drawn from twelve Presidential Libraries and Museums, institutions housing and presenting archival materials for the presidents from Herbert Hoover to Bill Clinton. Under "Interactive Timeline," you can choose any of the 12 presidents—Herbert Hoover, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George Bush, or William Jefferson Clinton—and explore his life.

Timelines consist of at least two sections: "Early Life and Career" and "Presidency." All timelines except Roosevelt's, Kennedy's, and Clinton's also include a "Post-Presidency" section. Marks on the timeline indicate events of interest in the president's life and career; click on a mark to read a brief summary of the event, and to view primary sources (a + sign in the mark indicates primary sources are available).

Browse "Exhibits," also under "Interactive Timeline," for more than 30 collections of short essays, accompanied by 2–6 primary sources per essay, covering major events and topics related to the presidents' lives and careers. Topics covered stretch from "The Stock Market Crash, October 1929" to "William J. Clinton and the Supreme Court, 1993-2001."

Try the "Gallery" to search more than 1,500 primary sources (including artifacts, maps and charts, video, photographs, sounds recordings, and documents) by keyword, library of origin, date, or source type.

The "Educators" section includes 14 ready-to-go activities, on topics ranging from Pearl Harbor to the Iran Hostage Crisis to Bill Clinton's visit to Little Rock Central High School. Students and teachers can view pre-selected primary sources online in each activity, with suggested rubrics, applicable standards, and links to related sources also included. "Resources" links out to 16 websites recommended for history and primary sources, education, and technology, while "Multimedia" rounds up more than 50 audio and video primary source clips for download.

If you can't access the interactive Flash version of the timeline, try the HTML "Text Version" that includes the same primary sources.