This museum immerses students in U.S. history: 'You can smell it, touch it, see it'

Kat Lloyd stands in the dim light on the first-floor staircase of a dilapidated, New York City tenement building. Before her: a tour of wide-eyed teens on a field trip from their high school in Queens. Their guide, Lloyd, encourages the students to imagine the building's 22 apartments when they were new, back in 1863, and brimming with mostly German immigrants.

"I start to imagine, you know, babies crying and people yelling to each other across the hallway," Lloyd says, laughing.

A few students close their eyes and smile.

With the nation's 250th anniversary approaching, many teachers, parents and politicians are debating the best ways for students to learn about American history. The traditional approach, relying on the stories of the country's leaders and focusing on its founding doc