Take your family to a Smithsonian exhibition near you! There are more than 100 Smithsonian Affiliate museums across the country. Here we highlight shows of special interest to families. Some are temporary, so be sure to check the dates.

North Carolina Museum of History
At the Speed of a Girl—Celebrating 100 Years of Girl Scouting
Through January 6, 2013, the museum presents a look at Girl Scout life through the decades, particularly in North Carolina. The exhibit includes vintage badges and uniforms, an early Girl Scout cookie recipe, and a 1942 thank-you letter from Eleanor Roosevelt to scouts she met on a visit to Raleigh.
Temporary Exhibit
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Credit information can be found on the museum website.

California Science Center
Ecosystems
Discover how environment affects living things—and vice versa—in a new immersive exhibit. Ecosystems is divided into eight zones, each of which demonstrates a different ecological principle. In Extreme Zone, visitors feel the heat of a desert ecosystem and the chill of an “ice wall” in a polar ecosystem. Forest Zone includes an underwater kelp forest inhabited by such California coastal creatures as leopard sharks and moray eels. Island Zone, home to lizards and tropical fish, shows the workings of evolution in isolated habitats. Ecosystems also features a Discovery Room especially designed for children seven and younger.
Permanent Exhibit
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Credit information can be found on the museum website.

South Florida Museum
Parker Manatee Aquarium
Located in Manatee County, Florida, the museum includes an aquarium that serves as a “second-stage rehabilitation facility” for manatees that have received medical care and are about to be released into the wild. The aquarium is also the permanent home of Snooty, the oldest known manatee in the world. Visitors can observe manatee life both above and below the surface.
Permanent Exhibit
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Credit information can be found on the museum website.

USS Constitution Museum
All Hands on Deck: A Sailor's Life in 1812
The museum opened thirty years ago to house artifacts from the frigate nicknamed “Old Ironsides.” The new exhibit All Hands on Deck is an interactive “family-centered” exploration of life on the ship at the beginning of the War of 1812. Visitors learn how to scrub the decks and furl a sail, and can even climb into a hammock for a bit of well-earned rest. Along the way, they learn the stories of sailors who served on the Constitution during the war, including an eight-year-old lad who was captured by the British and imprisoned in Barbados.
Permanent Exhibit
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Credit information can be found on the museum website.

Museum of Arts & Sciences
Roots Family Museum
Visit this astounding display of more than 800 teddy bears, ranging from seven feet tall to only a few inches in height. The exhibit presents Florida's largest collection of stuffed teddy bears; each bear represents a different time period or theme and portrays everyday scenes such as “Teddy Bear Wedding,” complete with bridesmaids, groomsmen and a minister. In addition, see every conceivable item relating to the bottling, advertising and consumption of Coca-Cola. Through a selection of glass bottles representing the changing trends in bottling over the decades, this exhibit chronicles the transition of Root Family Glass Works into Associated Coca-Cola, the largest independent Coca-Cola bottler in the nation.
Permanent Exhibit
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Credit information can be found on the museum website.

U.S. Space & Rocket Center
Cosmic fun for the entire family. From incredible displays of artifacts from the nation's space program, to hands-on interactive exhibits and space travel simulators, the U.S. Space & Rocket Center experience is unlike any other. Climb a cliff face on a Martian volcano on our Olympus Mons Climbing Wall. The mars mission motion-based simulator takes you on a surprising journey across the red planet. Experience three times the force of gravity as you spin like crazy in the g-force accelerator. Get a true feel for the close quarters shared by astronauts in the Apollo days as you sit inside the Apollo cockpit trainer.
Permanent Exhibit
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Credit information can be found on the museum website.

National Museum of Dentistry
32 Terrific Teeth
Visit this captivating interactive exhibit and see an extraordinary array of historical artifacts. Learn fun teeth tributes and trivia, play the Tooth Jukebox, tour the George Washington Gallery featuring an original Washington denture and be inspired by Her Majesty's Crowns featuring Queen Victoria's dental instruments. See an amazing display of toothbrushes with ingenious designs, learn about the evolution of the toothbrush and how many different kinds of toothbrushes exist. Relive history with famous commercials on oral hygiene products on the only jukebox of its kind—the Tooth Jukebox.
Permanent Exhibit
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Credit information can be found on the museum website.

Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History
The Great Locomotive Chase
On April 12, 1862, James J. Andrews and a band of Union spies stole the locomotive, the General, from under the watchful eyes of guards at nearby Camp McDonald while passengers and crew were eating breakfast at the Lacy Hotel. Follow in the footsteps of Confederate Conductor William Fuller as he chases “Andrews Raiders” with a dramatic tour featuring an exciting movie about the chase, a façade of the Lacy Hotel, a tunnel, and the General. Learn more about the spies in the Museum's Raiders Gallery that features Sgt. Scott's Medal of Honor, as well as photos and information about all 22 raiders.
Permanent Exhibit
Visit the exhibit website
Credit information can be found on the museum website.