Women Scientists Activity Pack, Grades 3-5

Meet the women who changed science. This 60-page activity pack for Grades 3-5 introduces students to twelve pioneering women scientists, from Marie Curie and her work on radioactivity to Katherine Johnson and her calculations for NASA's first space flights. Each scientist gets a full activity set, so students learn the science and the story behind it.

The pack opens with a How to Use This Pack guide and a timeline of women in science, from Hypatia of Alexandria to the present day. Then come twelve scientist profiles: Marie Curie, Ada Lovelace, Rosalind Franklin, Jane Goodall, Mae Jemison, Katherine Johnson, Rachel Carson, Grace Hopper, Mary Anning, Barbara McClintock, Chien-Shiung Wu, and Valentina Tereshkova. Each profile includes a short biography, a reading passage, and a comprehension activity.

Four timeline activities ask students to order events in each scientist's life, and four record pages give students a place to write down key facts about each scientist. A matching activity pairs each scientist with her discovery, and a quiz checks what students have learned about all twelve women.

The pack closes with a Women in Science certificate, a research project template for students to choose their own scientist to study, and a short end-of-unit quiz with a teacher answer key. Complete answer keys for every activity are included on pages 55 to 60 for the teacher only. Every student page has a name and date line and is left blank for students to complete, and the black-and-white interior is ready to print and use.

Teachers can use the pack for Women's History Month, for a science unit, or as a set of stand-alone worksheets for Grades 3, 4, and 5. It works as a reading supplement, a research starter, or a classroom display project.