K20 LEARN | Woman Crush Wednesday (Biology)

Summary

This collection of lessons aims to shine a spotlight on the remarkable contributions of women in the field of science. It celebrates the countless women who have defied societal norms and overcome obstacles to pursue their passion for scientific discovery, serving as role models for future generations of aspiring scientists. Through these lessons, we not only acknowledge their invaluable work, but we also underscore the importance of gender diversity and equality in the world of science.

Resources

5E Lesson

Woman Crush Wednesday: Gerty Cori

From Molecules to Organisms: Flow of Energy

Grade Level

9th - 10th

In this lesson, students will explore the impact female scientists have had on what we know about respiration. Aerobic respiration should be taught before doing this lesson. Students will discover the impact Gerty Cori has had on our understanding of respiration. Students will determine how the alternative... Read more »

Created by: Mariah Warren

Date Updated: March 17th, 2023

5E Lesson

Woman Crush Wednesday: Gerty Cori

From Molecules to Organisms: Flow of Energy

Individual Career Academic Plan (ICAP)

Subject

Science

Course

Biology I

Grade Level

9th - 10th

Standards

B.LS1.7, B.LS2.3

2-3 class periods

120 minutes

5E Lesson

Woman Crush Wednesday: Jane Cooke Wright

Understanding Mitosis

Grade Level

9th - 10th

This lesson is part of the "Woman Crush Wednesday" series that looks at the ways female scientists have shaped our views of science. In this biology lesson, students will explore the many contributions of Jane Cooke Wright, with special attention on her study of the impact of uncontrolled cell division... Read more »

Created by: Mariah Warren

Date Updated: April 18th, 2023

5E Lesson

Woman Crush Wednesday: Jane Cooke Wright

Understanding Mitosis

Subject

Science

Course

Biology I

Grade Level

9th - 10th

Standards

B.LS1.4 , B.LS1.4.1

60-120 minutes

2-3 class period(s)

5E Lesson

Woman Crush Wednesday: Marjory Stoneman Douglas

Ecosystems

Grade Level

9th - 10th

This lesson is part of a series, titled "Woman Crush Wednesday" in which we look at how female scientists have shaped our view of science. In this biology lesson, students will explore the contributions of Marjory Stoneman Douglas, the interconnectedness of an ecosystem, and endangered species. Read more »

Created by: Mariah Warren

Date Updated: November 22nd, 2022

5E Lesson

Woman Crush Wednesday: Marjory Stoneman Douglas

Ecosystems

Subject

Science

Course

Biology I

Grade Level

9th - 10th

Standards

HS-LS2-6, HS-LS4-5, B.LS2.6 , B.LS4.5

60 minutes

1-2 class period(s)

5E Lesson

Woman Crush Wednesday: Nettie Stevens

Inheritance and Variation of Traits

Grade Level

9th - 10th

This lesson is part of a series, titled "Woman Crush Wednesday," where we look at how female scientists have shaped our views of science. In this biology lesson, students explore the contributions of Nettie Stevens and her discovery of sex chromosomes. Read more »

Created by: Mariah Warren

Date Updated: September 6th, 2024

5E Lesson

Woman Crush Wednesday: Nettie Stevens

Inheritance and Variation of Traits

Subject

Science

Course

Biology I

Grade Level

9th - 10th

Standards

B.LS3.1 , B.LS3.2

120-180 minutes

2-3 class period(s)

5E Lesson

Woman Crush Wednesday: Rachel Carson

Biological Unity and Diversity

Grade Level

9th - 10th

This lesson is part of a series, titled "Woman Crush Wednesday" in which we look at how female scientists have shaped our view of science. In this biology lesson, students will explore the contributions of Rachel Carson, the impact of human activity on our ecosystem, and how organisms develop resistance... Read more »

Created by: Mariah Warren

Date Updated: April 18th, 2023

5E Lesson

Woman Crush Wednesday: Rachel Carson

Biological Unity and Diversity

Subject

Science

Course

Biology I

Grade Level

9th - 10th

Standards

HS-LS4-4, HS-LS4-5, B.LS4.3 , B.LS4.4 , B.LS4.5

100 minutes

1-2 class period(s)

5E Lesson

Woman Crush Wednesday: Terese LaRose

Hierarchical Organization of Multicellular Organisms

Grade Level

9th - 10th

This lesson is part of a series titled "Woman Crush Wednesday" in which we look at how female scientists have shaped our view of science. In this biology lesson, students will explore the contributions of Terese LaRose, a histotechnologist. Students will learn about the different levels of organization... Read more »

Created by: Mariah Warren

Date Updated: August 10th, 2022

5E Lesson

Woman Crush Wednesday: Terese LaRose

Hierarchical Organization of Multicellular Organisms

Individual Career Academic Plan (ICAP)

Subject

Science

Course

Biology I

Grade Level

9th - 10th

Standards

B.LS1.1, B.LS1.2, B.LS1.3

4-5 class periods

210 minutes

5E Lesson Multimodality

She Sells Seashells by the Seashore

Biology

Grade Level

9th - 10th

In this lesson, students will learn about paleontologists who have helped shape our understanding of organisms’ evolutionary history. They will research and evaluate evidence that scientists have used to construct and continually use to reconstruct evolutionary history and environmental pressures that... Read more »

Created by: Brittany Bowens

Date Updated: November 20th, 2024

5E Lesson Online Hybrid

She Sells Seashells by the Seashore

Biology

Subject

Science

Course

Biology I

Grade Level

9th - 10th

Standards

B.LS4.5 , B.LS4.5.1, B.LS4.5.2

4-5 Periods

185 Minutes

5E Lesson

Who Was Henrietta Lacks?

Ethics in Scientific Research

Grade Level

6th - 12th

This lesson is intended to support life science standards found in biology. The lesson is not intended to cover the standards completely but to supplement them and raise awareness of ethical issues and racism in science and medicine. Read more »

Created by: Alonna Smith

Date Updated: February 18th, 2025

5E Lesson

Who Was Henrietta Lacks?

Ethics in Scientific Research

Grade Level

6th - 12th

Subject

Science

Course

Biology I

Standards

MS-LS1-1, MS-LS1-2, MS-LS1-3, 6.LS1.1 , 6.LS1.2 , 6.LS1.3 , 8.LS4, 8.LS3.2 , IOD302, SIN201, EMI502

4 class periods

Standards

Next Generation Science Standards (Grades 9, 10, 11, 12)

HS-LS2-6: Evaluate the claims, evidence, and reasoning that the complex interactions in ecosystems maintain relatively consistent numbers and types of organisms in stable conditions, but changing conditions may result in a new ecosystem.

HS-LS4-4: Construct an explanation based on evidence for how natural selection leads to adaptation of populations.

HS-LS4-5: Evaluate the evidence supporting claims that changes in environmental conditions may result in: (1) increases in the number of individuals of some species, (2) the emergence of new species over time, and (3) the extinction of other species.

Oklahoma Academic Standards (6th Grade)

6.LS1.1 : Conduct an investigation to provide evidence that living things are made of cells; either one cell or many different numbers and types of cells.

6.LS1.1.1: All living things are made up of cells, which is the smallest unit that can be said to be alive.

6.LS1.1.2: An organism may consist of one single cell (unicellular) or many different numbers and types of cells (multicellular).

6.LS1.2 : Develop and use a model to describe the function of a cell as a whole and ways parts of cells contribute to the function.

6.ESS2: Within cells, special structures are responsible for particular functions, and the cell membrane forms the boundary that controls what enters and leaves the cell.

6.LS1.3 : Use an argument supported by evidence for how the body is a system of interacting subsystems composed of groups of cells.

6.LS1.3.1: In multicellular organisms, the body is a system of multiple interacting subsystems. These subsystems are groups of cells that work together to form tissues and organs that are specialized for particular body functions.

Oklahoma Academic Standards (8th Grade)

8.LS4: Develop and use a model to describe why structural changes to genes (mutations) located on chromosomes may affect proteins and may result in harmful, beneficial, or neutral effects to the structure and function of the organism.

8.LS3.1.1: Genes are located in the chromosomes of cells, with each chromosome pair containing two variants of each of many distinct genes. Each distinct gene chiefly controls the production of specific proteins, which in turn affects the traits of the individual.

8.LS3.1.2: Changes (mutations) to genes can result in changes to proteins, which can affect the structures and functions of the organism and thereby change traits.

8.LS3.1.3: In addition to variations that arise from sexual reproduction, genetic information can be altered because of mutations.

8.LS3.1.4: Though rare, mutations may result in changes to the structure and function of proteins.

8.LS3.1.5: Some changes are beneficial, others harmful, and some neutral to the organism.

Oklahoma Academic Standards (Biology)

B.LS1.1: Construct an explanation based on evidence for how the structure of DNA determines the structure of proteins, which carry out the essential functions of life through systems of specialized cells.

B.LS1.2: Develop and use a model to illustrate the hierarchical organization of interacting systems that provide specific functions within multicellular organisms.

B.LS1.2.1: Multicellular organisms have a hierarchical structural organization, in which any one system is made up of numerous parts and is itself a component of the next level.

B.LS1.3 : Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence of the importance of maintaining homeostasis in living organisms.

B.LS1.4 : Use a model to illustrate the role of cellular division (mitosis) and differentiation in producing and maintaining complex organisms.

B.LS1.4.1: In multicellular organisms, individual cells grow and then divide via a process called mitosis, thereby allowing the organism to grow.

B.LS1.7: Use a model to illustrate that cellular respiration is a chemical process whereby the bonds of food molecules and oxygen molecules are broken and the bonds in new compounds are formed, resulting in a net transfer of energy.

B.LS2.3 : Construct and revise an explanation based on evidence for the cycling of matter and the flow of energy in aerobic and anaerobic conditions.

B.LS2.6 : Evaluate the claims, evidence, and reasoning that the complex interactions in ecosystems maintain relatively consistent numbers and types of organisms in stable conditions, but changing conditions may result in a new ecosystem.

B.LS3.1 : Ask questions to clarify relationships about the role of DNA and chromosomes in coding the instructions for characteristic traits passed from parents to offspring.

B.LS3.2 : Make and defend a claim based on evidence that inheritable genetic variations may result from: (1) new genetic combinations through meiosis, (2) viable errors occurring during replication, and/or (3) mutations caused by environmental factors.

B.LS4.3 : Apply concepts of statistics and probability to support explanations that organisms with an advantageous heritable trait tend to increase in proportion to organisms lacking this trait.

B.LS4.4 : Construct an explanation based on evidence for how natural selection leads to adaptation of populations.

B.LS4.5 : Evaluate the evidence supporting claims that changes in environmental conditions may result in (1) increases in the number of individuals of some species, (2) the emergence of new species over time, and (3) the extinction of other species.

B.LS4.5.1: Changes in the physical environment, whether naturally occurring or human induced, have thus contributed to the expansion of some species, the emergence of new distinct species as populations diverge under different conditions, and the decline–and sometimes the extinction–of some species.

B.LS4.5.2: Species become extinct because they can no longer survive and reproduce in their altered environment. If members cannot adjust to change that is too fast or drastic, the opportunity for the species’ adaptation over time is lost.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons CC BY-SA 4.0 License.

Authentic Lessons for 21st Century Learning

Summary

Resources

Standards