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Women in science is big - and Vicki Cobb should know. She's been a women in science for all of her adult life, and she knows how to keep ALL kids reading science. |
English/Language Arts
Explore text structure - lists
Author Cobb embeds a list within a question and answer structure and makes it work. Use this Minute as a model for students when discussing the idea of choosing the best text structures for increasing your reader’s comprehension.
Explore biography - focus
Rather than write about Marie Curie’s entire life, Author Cobb highlights scientific progress and women in science through the lens of Curie. See if your students can discover Author Cobb’s focus in this Minute. What exactly is the author trying to say? What does the author hope the reader understands? Repeated conversations asking students to think about these kinds of questions will increase comprehension and thinking about theme.
Social Studies
Explore history of Nobel prize
Do a little digging. Have your students look at the history of the Nobel prize and create a timeline highlighting the ideas and discoveries that were honored over time. Do any patterns emerge? Did/does the offering of a prize advance discovery and innovation? Have your students make the argument for or against the Nobel Prize, citing evidence to support their argument.
Explore history of women in science
As this Minute explains, women were not a large part of the scientific community in Europe in the late nineteenth century. Have students look at the traditional role of women in Europe during this time period? Why were women not well represented in the professional arena? When did that begin to change? What things were the catalyst for that change? Compare this to women’s roles today. Are things equal? Why or why not?
STEM
Explore atomic theory
Use this Minute to introduce or reinforce the science behind atomic theory. When did scientists start to think in terms of atoms? How did this change what science existed before? Once the foundation of atomic theory was established, what possibilities for discovery and exploration appeared? Explore the history while teaching the science to create excitement for the future possibilities in the scientific world.
Explore chemistry - periodic table and radioactive elements
Use this Minute to take another look at the periodic table. How exactly does it work? What elements was Marie Curie responsible for identifying? What elements have been identified since? Are there other elements that have yet to be discovered?
Research Skills
Explore peer reviewed journals as resources
This is a great Minute to use to introduce peer-reviewed journals. Define these for your students - or better yet, send them searching for a definition. Challenge them to discover why peer-reviewed journals are generally accepted as reliable sources of information. Have them hunt for the potential problems with peer-reviewed journals. Have students explore your school or state subscription databases to develop a list of the peer-reviewed journals they can find. Ask them to find the same journals in the free web.
Explore bias - stereotypes
Use this Minute to introduce or continue a discussion about the presence of bias in information. Explore cultural biases involving gender, race or ethnicity. How can this kind of bias influence the quality or reliability of information? Explore institutional bias with your students. The probability of bias is present in all information, regardless of source. Have students examine what is included in an information source, and what is omitted. Ask the big question - is there such as thing as neutrality in information? If the answer is no, then how do we bet handle the bias?
Explore text structure - lists
Author Cobb embeds a list within a question and answer structure and makes it work. Use this Minute as a model for students when discussing the idea of choosing the best text structures for increasing your reader’s comprehension.
Explore biography - focus
Rather than write about Marie Curie’s entire life, Author Cobb highlights scientific progress and women in science through the lens of Curie. See if your students can discover Author Cobb’s focus in this Minute. What exactly is the author trying to say? What does the author hope the reader understands? Repeated conversations asking students to think about these kinds of questions will increase comprehension and thinking about theme.
Social Studies
Explore history of Nobel prize
Do a little digging. Have your students look at the history of the Nobel prize and create a timeline highlighting the ideas and discoveries that were honored over time. Do any patterns emerge? Did/does the offering of a prize advance discovery and innovation? Have your students make the argument for or against the Nobel Prize, citing evidence to support their argument.
Explore history of women in science
As this Minute explains, women were not a large part of the scientific community in Europe in the late nineteenth century. Have students look at the traditional role of women in Europe during this time period? Why were women not well represented in the professional arena? When did that begin to change? What things were the catalyst for that change? Compare this to women’s roles today. Are things equal? Why or why not?
STEM
Explore atomic theory
Use this Minute to introduce or reinforce the science behind atomic theory. When did scientists start to think in terms of atoms? How did this change what science existed before? Once the foundation of atomic theory was established, what possibilities for discovery and exploration appeared? Explore the history while teaching the science to create excitement for the future possibilities in the scientific world.
Explore chemistry - periodic table and radioactive elements
Use this Minute to take another look at the periodic table. How exactly does it work? What elements was Marie Curie responsible for identifying? What elements have been identified since? Are there other elements that have yet to be discovered?
Research Skills
Explore peer reviewed journals as resources
This is a great Minute to use to introduce peer-reviewed journals. Define these for your students - or better yet, send them searching for a definition. Challenge them to discover why peer-reviewed journals are generally accepted as reliable sources of information. Have them hunt for the potential problems with peer-reviewed journals. Have students explore your school or state subscription databases to develop a list of the peer-reviewed journals they can find. Ask them to find the same journals in the free web.
Explore bias - stereotypes
Use this Minute to introduce or continue a discussion about the presence of bias in information. Explore cultural biases involving gender, race or ethnicity. How can this kind of bias influence the quality or reliability of information? Explore institutional bias with your students. The probability of bias is present in all information, regardless of source. Have students examine what is included in an information source, and what is omitted. Ask the big question - is there such as thing as neutrality in information? If the answer is no, then how do we bet handle the bias?
© Karen Sterling, 2018 - May be used for educational purposes without written permission
