Black History Month: Celebrating Contributions of African-American Scientists

February is set aside every year as a time to celebrate Black History Month, and science class shouldn’t be left out of the fun! Celebrating Black History Month serves to acknowledge, honor, and highlight the significant contributions and achievements of African Americans throughout history. In addition to giving students an opportunity to recognize the achievements of African Americans, Black History Month also allows students to have a more comprehensive understanding of history by including diverse perspectives. There are many African American scientists that we can be inspired by in middle school science. Here are some ways you can celebrate Black History Month in your classroom.

Why celebrate Black History Monty in science?

Middle school is in the middle – not quite elementary and not quite high school. Therefore, we can bring the best parts of elementary school and the best parts of high school together! One of those best parts is the ability to celebrate other subjects in our own subjects. Black History Month is a great opportunity to do some cross curricular work and celebrate history in science because there are many African Americans who have had significant impacts on science.

Consider these:

• Mae Jameson was the first African American woman to travel into space in 1992 on Space Shuttle Endeavor.
• Henrietta Lacks‘ cells, without her knowledge or consent, became the first cell line and a crucial tool in medical research into vaccines and cancer treatments.
• Neil deGrasse Tyson popularizes science and astronomy in his television shows, podcasts, and books.
• George Washington Carver studied crop rotation and soil conservation, not to mention developed peanut butter.
• Benjamin Banneker accurately predicted solar and lunar eclipses.
• Katherine Johnson‘s calculations analyzing trajectories were pivotal in the Apollo 11 moon landing.
• Alice Ball developed a groundbreaking treatment for leprosy.
• Charles Drew developed the techniques for preserving blood plasma in blood banks.

Of course, this list barely scratches the surface, but I think it’s clear that your students deserve to know what contributions African American people have made and continue to make.

Middle schoolers need role models, and high achieving scientists are great role models for our students any month of the year.

Three ways to celebrate Black History Month in middle school science

• Research – Assign each student a different African American scientist to research. Then, have them create presentations or posters to share what they’ve learned with the rest of the class. Try this Black History scientists research template!
• Timelines – Have students create timelines highlighting key achievements of various African American scientists throughout history. Different groups of students can create timelines of different fields of study such as medicine, engineering, or chemistry.
• Interviews – Have students research an African American scientist and take on the role of the scientist in an interview with another student.