Women in STEM

Introduction

For this WebQuest, you will work with a partner to research a Woman Scientist of your choice. Together, you both will learn more about what contributions your woman scientist of choice has made to the world of science. Then, you will share with your classmates about your woman scientist. Good luck!

Task

Your task is to pick one of the ten women scientists listed below and answer the following prompts about them with your partner. Using the prompts and information about your woman scientist, you and your partner will create an infographic. 

All of the information you need to learn about your woman scientist will be provided in the links. Each scientist has their own biography linked below...

Step 1: Pick a Woman Scientist. 

  1. Marie Curie MARIE CURIE - NobelPrize.org

  2. Jane Goodall Jane Goodall: Biography, Animal Scientist, Chimpanzee Expert

  3. Barbara McClintock BARBARA MCCLINTOCK - NobelPrize.org

  4. Dorothy Hodgkin DOROTHY CROWFOOT HODGKIN - NobelPrize.org

  5. Grace Hopper Biography of Grace Murray Hopper | Office of the President  

  6. Mae Carol Jamison Mae Jemison Biography

  7. Elizabeth Blackwell Life Story: Elizabeth Blackwell - Women & the American Story

  8. Tu Youyou TU YOUYOU - NobelPrize.org

  9. Maria Goeppert Mayer MARIA GOEPPERT MAYER - NobelPrize.org

  10. Harriet Russell Strong Harriet Russell Strong | Whittier Museum

 

Step 2: Research your scientist.

Use the link provided to answer the following prompts about your woman scientist. The information you find will be used to fill out your infographic. 

1. Date of birth?

2. Where was your scientist born? 

3. Did your scientist attend college or get an education? Where is there education from? What did they study? How long did they attend school for? 

4. Write a brief paragraph about their early life including the following: Information about their family background/upbringing. What piqued their interest in science? Were there any key events that lead to their interest in science? Include any other important information about their early life. 

5. Write a paragraph about their contribution to science. What was it? Why is it important? How is it still impacting the field of science today? 

6. Include at least one interesting piece of information about your woman scientist. 

 

Step 3: Create your infographic.

Using the link provided, you and your partner will fill in the boxes of the infographic template with the information you found about your woman scientist. If you answered all of the questions above, you simply need to put your answers in the corresponding boxes. You must also include two images of your woman scientist, or one image of them and one image of their contributions. 

Infographic Template: https://www.canva.com/design/DAG62a1VTbo/SashoXR8GriFL1-R4GJwaw/edit?utm_content=DAG62a1VTbo&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=sharebutton 

 

Step 4: Present your findings. 

Now that you’ve completed your WebQuest, it is time to share with the class about your woman scientist. Download your infographic and share the pdf or link with your teacher. If you wish, you may also choose to print out your infographic. You and your partner will present the information in your infographic about your woman scientist to the class. Make sure you focus on their contributions to science as we will have a class discussion after all of the presentations.  

Process

1. Pick a woman scientist. 

2. Research. 

3. Create your infographic. 

4. Present your research. 

5. Class Discussion. 

Evaluation

Rubric for WebQuest: 

 

                  0 - 1

                   2 - 3

                    4 - 5

Content 

Information was not complete and not accurate. 

 

Some information was missing or not completely accurate. 

Information was complete and accurate. 

Collaboration 

Clear showing of one student completing the majority of the work. 

Work was somewhat divided equally between the students. 

Students worked well together as a team to research their woman scientist. Work was divided equally.

Navigation 

Student used outside sources that were not linked and did not use any of the resources provided. 

Student used some of the correct resources provided. 

Student smoothly navigated the resources provided and visited the correct websites. 

Presentation 

The information presented was inaccurate and not thorough. Poor presentation skills. 

Some information was missing and the student used some of the proper presentation skills. 

Information was presented clearly and the student used proper presentation skills. 

 

Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed learning about women scientists and their valuable contributions. It is important we take time to recognize and empower the many women that have challenged the norms and made a step towards change. Hopefully, this assignment has inspired you to learn more about historical women figures and ways you can contribute and make a positive impact. 

Credits