International Day of Women and Girls in Science

Are you looking for resources for International Women and Girls in Science Day? LbQ has a series of biographies to inspire your pupils. We have several Short Read Biographies that celebrate some aspirational female scientists:

Mary Anning

Born in 1799, Mary Anning was a bright little girl whose natural curiosity and fascination with fossils led to her becoming a world renowned scientist in spite of the prejudices of the time.

Beatrix Potter

Another determined child with a fascination for the natural world was Beatrix Potter. Although she struggled to be taken seriously as a scientist when she was alive, Beatrix Potter’s scientific drawings are still used today to help identify new species of fungi.

Katherine Johnson

Next, we have the biography of the gifted African American mathematician Katherine Johnson. Working at NASA through the 1950s and 60s, Katherine had to deal with the double disadvantage of her gender and race in a workplace that was both male dominated and segregated by the laws of the time.

Dorothy Vaughan

The biography of mathematician and computer programmer, Dorothy Vaughan, describes the achievements of another talented woman working as a ‘human computer’ for NASA during the time of the Space Race. When Dorothy was asked about being an African American woman during the years of segregation she said, “I changed what I could. What I couldn’t change, I endured.”

Mary Jackson

The third of LbQ’s ‘Hidden Figures’ biographies looks at the life and career of mathematician and physicist, Mary Jackson. Despite facing segregation in educational establishments in the USA at the time, Mary enrolled at night school to gain engineering qualifications, and she became NASA’s first black female engineer.

Dr Jane Goodall

The brilliant primatologist and conservationist, Dr Jane Goodall, continues to inspire young people all over the world with her passion and dedication to the natural world.

Dr Mae Jemison

The scientist, doctor and astronaut Mae Jemison provides another inspirational role model for aspiring young scientists today. LbQ’s biography of Dr Mae Jemison describes the incredible career of the first African American woman to travel into space.

We hope that these Short Read Biographies about such talented, determined and remarkable women are a useful addition to your resources for International Day of Women and Girls in Science. You can access our Short Reads here.