Teaching Guide Search

Students will learn about Elmer Imes's experimental work on spectroscopy and how it was a turning point in modern applied physics.

Students will learn about spectra, their connection to atomic absorption and emission, and how astronomer Margaret Huggins contributed to early spectral photography.

Students will learn about how the physicist Elmer Imes' became involved in the civil rights case of Juliette Derricotte and about racial segregation in the 1930s.

Students will learn about Leona Woods Marshall Libby, who worked on the Manhattan Project and afterward had a successful and diverse career as a research physicist, while also discussing the value of interdisciplinary research.

Students will research the history of Historically Black Colleges and Universities and examine several institutions that offer degrees in the physical sciences.

Students will learn about the role of African Americans played in the Mahanattan Project as scientists, technicians, and workers by exploring the biographies of several of these individuals.

In this lesson students will learn about the life and work of Victor Blanco.

Students will learn about the life and work of nuclear physicist Chien-Shiung Wu and explore the trend of scientists becoming public figures and activists.

This lesson plan introduces students to the National Society of Black Physicists (NSBP).

Students will learn about the physicist Albert Baez, including his research, ideals, and efforts at improving international scientific education.

Students will learn about the historical context of the Civil Rights Movement and how it impacted the physics community by reading two contrasting assessments of the status of African Americans in physics in the 1960s. Students will practice knowledge of covalent and ionic bonds by drawing diagrams of different bonds.

Students will learn about the life and career of female astronomers through their own words.

Students will investigate four historical case studies of physicists who some historians and physicists have argued should have won a Nobel Prize: Arnold Sommerfeld, Lise Meitner, Chien-Shiung Wu, and Satyendra Nath Bose. With each Case Study, students examine the historical context surrounding the prize that year (if applicable) as well as potential biases inherent in the structure of the Nobel Prize committee and its selection process. Students will summarize arguments for why these four physicists should have been awarded a Nobel Prize in physics, as well as potential explanations for why they were not awarded the honor.

Students will learn about the incredible life and accomplishments of Lise Meitner, one of the most important physicists during the 20th century, by reading about her critical role in the discovery of nuclear fission and contributions to the science of atomic and nuclear physics.

Students will learn about the mobilization of African American “war workers” at Historically Black Colleges and Universities during World War II. Students will then learn about and create electromagnets.