Teaching Ideas

International Day of Women and Girls in Science

February 11th is International Day of Women and Girls in Science, a day to promote the full and equal access and participation of women and girls in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics fields. Explore the selected resources below or try browsing the many books and resources about women and girls in science on TeachingBooks. Visit the Women / Girls Collection, then filter by curricular area to find more.

  • Inspire students by sharing this speech by Reshma Saujani, author of Girls Who Code. Have students find statistics about women coders and women in STEM and science programs. Discuss findings together.

  • Use Google Book Preview to explore some notable women of science after watching the video book trailer for Wonder Women of Science. Have students select one woman from the Table of Contents and do their own research. Find additional prompts in this teachers' guide.

  • Practice thinking together after watching the video book trailer for Ada Byron Lovelace and the Thinking Machine and try out technical writing, explore the scientific method, and even play games with ideas from this curriculum guide.

  • Dig into this interview with Linda Skeers about Dinosaur Lady, then create your own dinosaur fossils using cotton swabs or try another idea from these extension activities.

  • Hear a little about Sylvia Acevedo’s journey and the challenges she faced in this
    video book reading for Path to the Stars: My Journey from Girl Scout to Rocket Scientist. Ask students to write about something they are passionate about and willing to work hard for and to consider what challenges they may run into as they work to reach their goal.

  • Invite your students to imagine they are interviewing an amazing scientist, such as the ones featured in Born Curious. Have them come up with questions they would ask them, and find additional activities in this curriculum guide.

  • Learn from this video book trailer for Lab Girl and consider some of the discussion questions in these reader resources.

  • Watch an astronaut read Ada Twist, Scientist from space in this complete video reading, have lots of science fun with these activity sheets, and find many more activity ideas on this page

  • Investigate animals and create a visual that can be displayed in the classroom after listening to this Meet-the-Author Recording with Danna Staaf for The Lady and the Octopus.

  • Hear about the backstory for Hidden Figures: The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race in this Meet-the-Illustrator Recording, then enjoy this complete video reading together. Explore ideas from this teaching guide such as considering how and when we use mathematics in our daily life, or discussing why these women’s contributions have not been celebrated until recently. You can also have students choose one of these women or another woman from the field to research.