Implementation of ‘March – the Month of Women in the History of Science’ (SOI-PT-193)

March – the Month of Women in the History of Science: Photograph of George Hitchings and Trudy Elion

Starting in February, we began to research the legacy of Nobel Prize laureates, paying attention to the role of Women in Science. The research, reflections, and work developed were integrated into the context of my Mathematics classes of students in 7th-grade. Many teaching materials were adapted to include historical contributions researched from Europeana.

Women in Science

Firstly, my students had to familiarize with the great achievements and contributions of women in the history of Science. In the classroom, we reflected on the role of women in Science, paying particular attention to Marie Curie’s findings, although we studied many other laureates in Science. The importance of mathematics as a fundamental subject for the study of Science was there. The history of these great Women (and Men too) could only encourage motivation to study and understand the importance of Science, mainly when we started to live in the context of the Covid-19 Pandemic.

Collaborative work

Secondly, students had to learn how to use cloud-based services and how to work collaboratively using shared online documents to gather information about women in Science. The students, in groups, have searched in Europeana for relevant information, consulting the “Pioneers Exhibition” and the Europeana Blog. They selected data and created a poster using Google Slides with pertinent details, also associating mathematical challenges. We published all groups’ submissions in a shared Google folder for everyone to consult.

It’s Quiz Time

As a next step, the students were divided into teams and they had to create a quiz using Socrative, Kahoot or Google Forms to present and test their knowledge. During the Covid-19 Pandemic, we use Google Classroom to interact and communicate, and each group has created a quiz presenting the research about their Women Scientist.

`Quiz Marie Curie (Math Linear Equations)`

Link to the quiz in English
Link to the quiz in Portuguese

To access the quizzes a Socrative account is needed.

They had to develop between 6 to 8 questions about the life and achievements of the scientist, including mathematical challenges. Since then, every week, we have been launching a quiz created by the students. Everyone has to solve it to test their knowledge.

Final steps

In the end, we planned a synchronous session for teamwork reflections. They have to express the importance of the significant contributions of women in Science. The class will chat and discuss the importance of these achievements to our actual Pandemic world.

Did you find this story of implementation interesting? Why don’t you read about the related learning scenario:

March – the month of women in the history of science created by Josip Kličinović

Did you find this story of implementation interesting? You might also like:

Physics in Pictures implemented by Stephanie Maggi-Pulis
Inventions and Discoveries implemented by Kristina Mijandrusic Ladavac
The Powerful Women in Europe implemented by Reyhan Gunes

Do you want to discover more stories of implementation? Click here

CC BY 4.0: the featured image used to illustrate this article has been found on Europeana and has been provided by the Wellcome Collection.

Sónia Mendes says:

February 20, 2021 at 5:49 pm

I’ve really liked this Learning Scenario. It engages students in creating content and developing several skills and subjects. And the quizzes bring up the gamification to the classes. Great idea! I was thinking of pursuing a similar activity with older students in my English lessons – this does not fit entirely but has been inspirational. Thank you!

rosannabusiello says:

March 4, 2021 at 6:41 pm

Thanks for this interesting scenario, I ‘ m using in this period with my student to implement severl skills . The use of quizzes is very important to make the lesson less boring, I would add to the timeline lesson of the women who have collaborated in the world of research. Finally, Sio could create a map in which to mark the number of women involved in important scientific projects. I have try to implement with my stundents in this way the learning scenario . thank you

Paraskevi Sarmpani says:

April 30, 2021 at 7:45 am

This is a very interesting SOI indeed! I like the way it deals with topics such as gender parity and women’s contribution to science in a math class and, particularly, the way it uses the example of famous scientists, men and women, as a motive for pupils to excel in math. The idea to ask from students to create classroom content, i.e. the quizzes that are then used in the classroom, is very-very good. This SOI focuses on ICT skills that extend beyond the typical ones obtained in a math class. Team work and collaboration are a great asset too! Overall, thanks for sharing with us, Ana!

Women in Science

Collaborative work

It’s Quiz Time

Final steps

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