1. Women, Science & Women in Science!
Women who changed the world, and how to be a scientist all the time, everywhere you go!

2. Agenda Ice breaker Everyday science & how to ask questions Rockets!
Bring it Back
Women’s History Month & women scientists who changed the world
Wrap up

3. Ice Breaker – Save Fred!
Save Fred the worm by getting his lifesaver from under the boat without letting him fall in the water.
You may only touch the 4 paperclips available, but you can bend them in any way you want.
Find a way to get the lifesaver to Fred without letting him fall in or the boat tip over!

4. The Scientific Method & Open-ended Questions

5. Paper Rockets!
We’re going to talk about a new STEM activity while walking through the scientific method together.
This activity is quick, fun, and can be used as a STEM minute or expanded into a full activity.
Let’s do it together!

6. Step 1: Question What is the question you want an answer to?
For example: How far will a paper and straw the rocket fly? Will it fly straight or will it curve? What makes the rocket fly?

7. Step 2: Hypothesis
Come up with a possible answer to the question that you are asking.
For example: The rocket will fly at least 10 feet; It will fly straight up and come down at a curve; my breath through the straw is what propels it.

8. Step 3: Experiment
Actually test your hypothesis by doing an experiment.
For example: Use the straw, paper, and tape to build a rocket according to the instructions. Blow through the straw to try to make the rocket fly.

9. Step 4: Observation & Data Collection
Write down what you see during the experiment.
Make sure to do the experiment many times in the same way, so you don’t only have one set of data.
For example: The first time, the rocket went straight forward 3 feet then fell. The second time, I blew but it stuck on the straw and didn’t go anywhere. The third time, I loosened the rocket on the straw and it went 4 feet.

10. Step 5: Analysis
Examine the observations you made. Look for connections between the data points and maybe do some math to find average length of flight, or draw diagrams to show the path of flight the rocket took.
For example: The rocket flew an average of 4 feet. The rocket did loops instead of flying straight, so it didn’t go as far.

11. Step 6: Conclusion
Determine if any of your hypotheses were correct. Why or why not?
For example: My rocket did not fly as far as I hypothesized. I believe it was because it didn’t have a way to stabilize it’s flight.

12. Step 7: Start Over
If your conclusion didn’t match your hypothesis, try coming up with a new hypothesis that fits what you did find, adjust your experiment as needed, and test it out.
If your conclusion did prove your hypothesis, repeat the experiment to make sure you got the correct results. Sometimes your experiment can go wrong but give you the results you want, so always do it more than once!
For example: My rocket didn’t fly as far as I thought it would. New question: “If I change the design, will it fly further?” New hypothesis: “It will fly farther if I add fins.” Time to test it out!

13. Is that the only way?

14. Model Method
Many times, scientists create life-size or small scale models and test them to see if their designs work.
This is an effective method of scientific inquiry because you can make changes and test it out and really see what happens.
This works best when something can be scaled down (like our rockets) so it isn’t too expensive or complicated.

15. The Scientific Method & Open-ended Questions
Where do you think scientific processes are done?
What kinds of things can you learn through scientific experimentation?
How do you use the scientific method in your daily life?
Do you know any scientists? What kinds of jobs do your family members have that use a lot of science?
Are these open-ended questions? Is this?

16. Break Time

17. Back to Fred Think back to the process you used to save Fred.
Draw pictures and describe what you did on the worksheet provided.
Did you use the scientific method? Which steps can you identify?
Was it harder to save Fred, or to explain how you saved Fred? Why do you think that is?

18. Women’s History Month 1911: International Women’s Day
March 1987: Women’s History Month
Each year, a theme is declared by the National Women’s History Project. The NWHP ( fought to get Women’s History Month nationally recognized
Each year since 1987 a presidential proclamation has been made. You can read President Obama’s here:

19. Women’s History Month
Has a list of themes for each year of Women’s history month and a list of historical woman connected to that theme
Has online exhibits, social media archives, teaching resources, audio and video reference, and a list of related art and culture
Same as the above link, but specifically the teacher resources
Has information on the first Women Right’s Convention. Has list of important people, places, and events tied to the Women’s Rights Movement

20. Women…In…Spaaaaace!
Because our focus this month is on science, we thought we’d look at some of the amazing women in the sciences.
Often women have been overlooked as contributors in the sciences, and this becomes more prevalent for women of color.
The movie Hidden Figures that just came out is introducing some people to this specific inequality for the first time, but what other women made huge advances in science?

21. Women Scientists
Ten Historical Examples of Women Scientists and Their Achievements
Ten Just As Important But Lesser Known Women Scientists
Ten Important Scientist Who Are Women of Color
Five Diverse Women from the STEM Field

22. Marie Curie: Chemist and Physicist

23. Physicist on Manhattan Project
Chien-Shiung Wu:
Physicist on Manhattan Project

24. Deepika Kurup:
Inventor, scientist, clean water activist (literally wasn’t even born until 1998)

25. Rosalind Franklin: Discovered DNA

26. NASA Scientist and Mathematician
Katherine Johnson:
NASA Scientist and Mathematician

27. Heathen Sporks: American Hero

28. A Biographical Poem
I am ___________________ Who loved __________________________________________________________ Who feared _____________________________________________________________ Who worked for __________________________________________________________________ Who would like to ___________________________________________________________________ Who would never __________________________________________________________________ Who dreamed of ___________________________________________________________________ Who wanted to create __________________________________________________________________ Who needed ___________________________________________________________________ Who wanted to see ___________________________________________________________________ Who is remembered as _________________________________________________________________

29. Our Poem
I am … Heathen Sporks Who loved … Squirrels Who feared … Nothing, ever (maybe gluten) Who worked for … the youth of Philadelphia. She’s the captain Who would like to … make sweaters for all the cats of the world Who would never … give you up. Or let you down. Or run around. Who dreamed of … boots with the fur Who wanted to create … a safe environment for learning all over this jawn Who needed … us to help her, because there are a lot of libraries Who wanted to see …. Us succeed, and did everything she could to help Who is remembered as … a literacy warrior and lover of all things fluffy.

30. Wrap Up