Sometimes it's difficult for students in Biology class to see the "big picture" often wondering WHY it is important to study such topics. Rebecca Skloot mixes science and history telling the story of Henrietta Lacks, written in a way to grab interest of students and make them identify with its issues.
My students are primarily 9th and 10th graders at a magnet school for math, science, and technology, in an area of high poverty.
It can be difficult sometimes to get them excited about historical science, but many of my students will be able to relate with the people in this story, due to similar economic situations. For so long, science has been a "man's world" and this book shows that not only was a woman an integral part in so many medical advances since the 1950's, but that woman was a former slave, an African-American woman.
My Project
This book will bring science alive in my classroom! Based on the true story of Henrietta Lacks, a poor, uneducated, black woman who died in 1951 of cervical cancer, after her cells were taken without her knowledge. These cells are STILL ALIVE TODAY and have contributed developing the polio vaccine; uncovered secrets of cancer, viruses, and the effects of the atom bomb; helped lead to important advances like in-vitro fertilization, cloning, and gene mapping. The book is full of science, history, and emotion and is written more like a novel than nonfiction. It makes you think about immortality...would YOU want to live FOREVER?
This project will have an impact on current and future students.
It is written to easily identify with the people involved. It encourages the students to understand what happened and to think about the woman behind so many scientific and medical advances that they are aware of and study today. It addresses ethical concerns and will pique the interest of the students to want to learn more. It shows a WOMAN important in science, an AFRICAN-AMERICAN WOMAN.
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