Women in History Lesson Plan Complete
1WOMEN IN HISTORY: POLITICAL AND SCIENTIFIC ACHIEVEMENTSIn the long nineteenth century, women joined numerous movements that fought for labor rights, suffrage, abolition, universal education, and health care reforms. These reform movements would lead to the passage of legislation that enshrined equal rights into constitutions around the world. Historically, women’s contributions to science had been overlooked, with their discoveries often credited to men. But women’s scientific discoveries advanced our knowledge of the Universe—the Big Bang, stars, chemical elements, dark matter, evolution—and many fields of study. These lessons highlight women’s political and scientific contributions from the long nineteenth century to the present. In the final lesson, students use their inquiry and research skills to investigate a woman who inspires them. OverviewLength: Three lessons. Each lesson should take two or three 50-minute class periods. Learning Objectives• Learn about women’s leadership and achievements in reform movements.• Use the historical thinking practice of comparison to identify similarities and differences between women’s suffrage movements in different regions of the world. • Use close-reading skills to learn about women’s scientific accomplishments from the nineteenth century to the twentieth.• Use inquiry skills to research an inspiring woman of the past or present who has contributed to our world.
2Lesson 1: Women in History: Political Reform Movements Lesson objective:•Learn about women’s leadership and achievements in reform movements.•Use the historical thinking practice of comparison to identify similarities and differences betweenwomen’s suffrage movements in different regions of the world.Description:In this lesson on women’s roles in reform movements, students begin by investigating the life of Harriet Forten Purvis, a nineteenth-century abolitionist and suffragist. Next, they complete a comparison activity in which they read the article “A World Tour of Women’s Suffrage.” In the activity, students compare women’s suff rage movements in different regions of the world, looking for similarities and differences between regions. Finally, they end the lesson by writing a 40-word summary of what they learned. Opener: Exploring Harriet Forten Purvis: Video and Graphic BiographyKick off this lesson by showing students this short video about the nineteenth-century abolitionist and suffragist Harriet Forten Purvis. Then, have students explore the graphic biography and answer the following questions: 1.How did Purvis fight against slavery and discrimination?2.Women’s suffrage would not be achieved for another 50 years after Purvis’s death. Why do think thisachievement took so long?Activity: Comparing Women’s Suffrage MovementsThe experiences of women throughout history differ between regions and time periods. However, by using a historical investigation like comparison, we can view how women in history confronted similar challenges and common social expectations, regardless of place and time. By zooming in on the stories of women in specific societies, we can better understand the challenges women have faced throughout history and continue to face in many parts of the world. Students will complete this activity using the article “A World Tour of Women’s Suffrage.”Article: “A World Tour of Women’s Suffrage”Social transformations of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries relied to a remarkable degree on the political power women attained through the right to vote. But winning the vote was not easy. Most nation-states universally excluded women from voting. Women’s suffrage was only achieved through activism and a struggle to change the status quo. In this article, students explore how women gained the right to vote gradually, beginning in a few regions of the world, with local voting rights. These rights continued to spread slowly, supported by a global network of suffragists. For additional teaching support, including key idea questions, click here (log-in required).Closer: Two-Dollar SummaryFor this quick closing activity, students will follow some specific instructions to review what they’ve learned:1.Take out a blank piece of paper. Write a summary of the key takeaways from this lesson—each wordyou write is “worth” five cents. Your summary should not exceed “two dollars” in total.2.Share your summary with a partner. Did you and your partner take a similar approach to yoursummaries? How were they the same or how did they differ?
3Additional Materials:• Article: “Responses to Industrialization”• Graphic Biography:Ottilie Baader• Article: “Why Was Slavery Abolished?”• Article: “Race and Post-Abolition Societies”• Article: “Changing Gender Roles”• Activity: Comparing Women’s Roles in Decolonization Efforts• Article: “Decolonizing Women”A selection of Lesson 1 additional materials.
4Lesson 2: Women in Science: Breakthroughs Lesson objective:• Use close-reading skills to learn about women’s scientific accomplishments from the nineteenth century to the twentieth.Description:In this lesson, students focus on women’s scientific breakthroughs. The materials in this lesson concentrate on women in astrophysics, but women have contributed to every branch of the sciences. If you’d like to switch up the disciplines, choose from one of the materials listed at the end of the lesson. First, students complete an opening activity that asks them to take a couple of minutes to write everything they know about women’s scientific accomplishments. Next, students are introduced to the field of astrophysics by Dr. Janna Levin. Then, students read a collection of articles and graphic biographies that highlight women’s contributions to this scientific discipline. Finally, students revisit the opening activity and compare what they knew at the beginning of the lesson to the end. Opener: Brain DumpStudents may not know a lot about women’s scientific accomplishments right now, but by the end of the lesson, they’ll be more informed and have access to materials to help them learn even more. In this short opening activity, give students a couple minutes to write everything they know—or think they know—about women’s scientific accomplishments. Students can then pair up and share their knowledge.Video: Introduction to AstrophysicsIn this video, Dr. Janna Levin describes the field of astrophysics and how the different types of astrophysicists help inform us about the Universe. For additional teaching support, including key idea questions, click here (log-in required).Graphic Biography: Dr. Wu and the Left-Handed Universe: Chien-Shiung WuChien-Shiung Wu is often acknowledged as one of the greatest physicists of the twentieth century. Her contributions to the Manhattan Project were instrumental in building the world’s first nuclear reactor, and her discovery of a violation of parity changed our understanding of how the Universe works. But many people don’t know her name. This graphic biography presents students with an opportunity to begin asking why some people get left out of history stories. For additional teaching support, including key idea reading questions, click here (log-in required).Article: “Henrietta Leavitt”Henrietta Leavitt discovered the relationship between the intrinsic brightness of a variable star and the time it took to vary in brightness, making it possible for others to estimate the distance of these faraway stars, conclude that additional galaxies exist, and begin mapping the Universe.
5Graphic Biography: Intuition and Evidence: Cecilia Payne-GaposchkinCecilia Payne-Gaposchkin wrote a dissertation that challenged our understanding of stars. Before her discoveries, scientists believed that stars contained the same chemical elements as Earth. Cecilia proved that they were misinterpreting the spectra, or bands of light, from distant stars. Yet, her male colleagues doubted her evidence. This doubt pressured Payne-Gaposchkin to include a line of uncertainty in her dissertation. Nonetheless, within five years, her thesis was confirmed—by the same colleagues who had doubted her along the way! For additional teaching support, including key idea reading questions, click here (log-in required).Closer: Brain Dump, Take 2Now that your students have learned more about women’s scientific breakthroughs, repeat the opening activity. Give students a couple of minutes to write everything they learned in this lesson. Then, have students compare their notes from the opening activity to this one and answer this question: How has your knowledge and understanding about women’s scientific accomplishments changed over the course of this lesson?Additional Materials:• Graphic Biography: Revealing the Dark: Vera Rubin• Graphic Biography: The Rocket Scientist: Mary Golda Ross• Article: “Marie Curie”• Graphic Biography: A “Girl Talk” Geological Revolution: Marie Tharp• Article:“Crick, Watson, & Franklin”• Graphic Biography: The Collector: Ynés Mexía• Graphic Biography: Henrietta Lacks’ Immortal Legacy• Article:“Jane Goodall”• Graphic Biography: Actually, It’s the Moon: Wang Zhenyi• Graphic Biography: The Climate Science Pioneer: Eunice Newton FooteA selection of Lesson 2 additional materials.
6Lesson 3: Inspiring Women Lesson objective:• Use inquiry skills to research an inspiring woman of the past or present who has contributed to our world.Description:Women from antiquity to the present have fought for change and contributed to the sciences, arts, politics, and more. In this lesson, students will choose a woman from the past or present who has, is, or will contribute to our world. Opener: BrainstormStudents take about five minutes to brainstorm a list of women they’re interested in learning about. Then, they choose a woman from their list to research further. Note: If students are having trouble coming up with a list, ask them to list different topics or fields of study that they’re interested in learning more about. They’ll then research the topic or discipline to find an inspiring woman to investigate further.Activity: Inspiring Women Research and PresentationGive students a day to research their inspiring woman. If students need some inspiration, we recommend sharing the resources in the Additional Materials section, located at the end of each lesson. They should include information like their research subject’s name, dates of birth and death, educational background, accomplishments in their field, for example. Remind students to find reputable sources, take notes in their own words, and cite all their sources. If your students need guidance on how to navigate online information, we recommend viewing the video Check Yourself with Lateral Reading: Crash Course Navigating Digital Information #3. Next, give students one day to create a product of their choosing (short essay, slide presentation, podcast, video, for example) to present to the class. Finally, students will present their inspiring woman to the class. To save time, you could have students set up or share their presentations in the classroom and do a gallery walk. If you’d like more structure for the presentations, we recommend using the Revolutionary Women activity format. Simply replace the list of women in the activity with those that your students chose to research.Closer: 3-2-1 ReviewThis closer activity will help students review what they’ve learned in this lesson and compare this with what they learned in the previous lessons. Have students take out a sheet of paper and write down three new ideas they’ve learned from this lesson. Then, ask them to record two ways that the lesson relates to previous content they’ve learned. Finally, have them record one big question they still have about the content and share their 3-2-1 with a partner to see if their partner can help answer their question.
7Additional Materials:• Graphic Biography: Babatha• Graphic Biography: Khanzada Begun• Graphic Biography: Sorqoqtani Beki• Graphic Biography: Macuilxochitl• Graphic Biography: Amonute• Graphic Biography: Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz• Graphic Biography: Qing Shih• Graphic Biography: Manuela Sáenz, Jonotas, and Natan• Graphic Biography: Yaa Asantewaa• Graphic Biography: Azizun of Lucknow• Graphic Biography: Helen Fairchild• Graphic Biography: Dr. Rosa Luxemburg• Graphic Biography: LaDonna Brave Bull Allard• Graphic Biography: Islam AlhashelA selection of Lesson 3 additional materials.