Scott Foresman editors worked with the Smithsonian Institution's curatorial staff to create lessons that incorporate images culled from the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, National Air & Space Museum, National Museum of American History, National Postal Museum, National Portrait Gallery, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum. The materials cover a range of subjects including geography, culture, civics, government and economics. The goal of the program is to help illuminate both America's past and its present for millions of social studies students in grades 1 through 6.

The collaborative program includes museum gallery pages with full-color images of artifacts, and captions based directly on Smithsonian research. Teacher editions include point-of-use information to help guide students' learning about America's heritage. A highlight of the program is "Look Inside the Smithsonian," two-page features that appear throughout student editions. Special workbook activity pages encourage students to discover even more on their own.