As spring and summer roll in, D.C.’s museums offer a great way to get out of the heat and boost your brain power. And, after spending most of your free time relaxing at outdoor happy hours, who couldn’t use a brain boost? DCist has gathered some of May’s best museum exhibits and events. While some of the exhibits are long term, now’s as good a time as any to check them out, as we'll have more suggestions for you next month.

>> Butterflies abound at the Natural History Museum, with their two-part exhibit that opened in February. The free Partners in Evolution explores how natural selection has encouraged insects and plants to co-evolve through interdependency. And while the second part of the exhibit, the Butterfly Pavilion, does cost $6 for adults and $5 for children, it gives visitors the chance to walk among a bounty of live butterflies from across the globe. Timed-entry tickets can be purchased online or at the museum on a first-come, first-served basis. On Tuesdays, tickets are free and available at the Butterfly Pavilion Box Office beginning at 10 a.m.

>> Tonight at 6:30 p.m., bring $20 to the Spy Museum to hear CIA staffer John Hedley demystify "the world’s most expensive and exclusive publication—the President’s Daily Brief (PDB)." Hedley, who provided information to eight presidents with the PDB, will share how our presidents receive information, from who, and who decides what information the prez gets. Or, if gadgets are more your speed, on Sunday, May 18 from 10 to 11 a.m., 11 a.m. to noon, or noon to 1 p.m., the Spy Museum will be holding Spy Fest: Tradecraft Try-Its. Try your hand at mini-missions, watch tradecraft demonstrations, and try the gadgets out for yourself. The event is ages 7 and up; tickets cost $12 each.

>> We reviewed the Air and Space Museum’s America by Air exhibit in November, but it’s still running if you haven’t gotten your fill of vintage jets. Until January, the museum will also be exhibiting In Plane View, which showcases 56 large-format photos emphasizing the elegance of aircraft by Carolyn Russo. Also at the Air and Space, at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, May 13, former Southwest Airlines CEO Herb Kelleher will give a free Charles A. Lindbergh Memorial Lecture in the museum’s IMAX theatre. Kelleher is known for creating Southwest’s unique corporate culture, so if you’re looking for a reminder of your business management class, don’t miss what is sure to be a dynamic and engaging event.

>> Tonight and next Tuesday, the Anacostia Community Museum is holding the last two scheduled conversations on issues impacting East of the River communities. Tonight at 6:30 p.m., moderator Camille Giraud will hold a discussion on "Supporting and Promoting the Arts East of the River," and next Tuesday at the same time, the discussion will be on "What's the Next Move: Housing, East of the River." For more information or to confirm your attendance, please call 202-633-4875.

Image of the "Butterflies + Plants: Partners in Evolution" exhibition at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. Photo Credit: Chip Clark/Smithsonian Institution.

>> The Postal Museum holds a number of educational events each month. This Sunday, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., they are kicking off the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Heritage Month with workshops and presentations on origami, letter writing, stamp designing, and storybook making, as well as dance performances. On Thursday, May 15 from 1 to 3 p.m., the Postal Museum holds Adversity, Adventure, and the 90th Anniversary of Airmail in America, which showcases the pioneers of air mail flights, dating back to 1918, and will include airplane exhibits and navigation technique demonstrations. At Victory Mail Family Day on Friday, May 30 from 1 to 3 p.m., visitors will "follow a V-Mail letter from start to finish, pilot a paper plane, and learn about life during World War II."

>> If you’re planning on checking out the new Identity by Design exhibit at the National Museum of the American Indian, try to schedule your visit around one of these upcoming events. At 2 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, May 17 and 18, the Native Writers Series presents Hawaiian author Noenoe Silva, who will be discussing her book Aloha Betrayed: Native Hawaiian Resistance to American Colonialism. Or, this week, check out one of the films from Video Amazonia Indigena: A View from the Villages. Created by independent media organization Video in the Villages, along with indigenous filmmakers from the Brazilian Amazon, the films intend “to voice their stories and reflect the contemporary life of their villages.” Each screening will be preceded by a discussion of the films by the VNA project directors and indigenous filmmakers.

>> Get your tickets now for the Building Museum's June 3 speech by the 2008 Pritzker Prize Laureate Jean Nouvel. The Pritzker prize awards living architects whose “work demonstrates a combination of the qualities of talent, vision, and commitment, which has produced consistent and significant contributions to humanity and the built environment through the art of architecture.” Nouvel’s work includes the Institut du Monde Arabe (IMA) in Paris, the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, and the future SunCal Tower condominiums in Los Angeles. Tickets cost $30 for non-members and $10 for students. Prepaid registration required; walk in registration based on availability.

>> You have until June 1 to view the Chiura Obata exhibit at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Watercolorist Obata visited Yosemite National Park and the Sierra Nevada, and produced 100 pencil, watercolor and sumi ink drawings inspired by the landscapes. The exhibit features 27 prints and watercolors, as well as a series of 20 progressive proofs.

Museum Notes:

• The Nazi Olympics: Berlin 1936 runs through August 17 at the Holocaust Museum.
• This week is your last chance to catch Part I: Dreams in The Cinema Effect: Illusion, Reality, and the Moving Image at the Hirshhorn, which closes May 11.
• This month, the National Portrait Gallery opens two new exhibitions: Puncturing Pomposity (May 2) featuring the political cartoons of Herbert Lawrency Block, and Ballyhoo! Posters and Portraiture (May 9).
• More than 100 works by figurative artist Paula Rego are on display at the National Museum of Women in the Arts until May 25.