Issuu

Vol. 3 Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame presents

Inspirational

Women

in STEM

NGSS Aligned Grade 6-8

Dr. Jewel

Plummer Cobb

Life Science Unit

CONNECTICUT WOMEN’S HALL OF FAME Sarah Smith Lubarsky, Executive Director Content Development Liz Krebs, Education Manager Graphic Design Michelle Marchese, Manager of Marketing and Operations © 2022 by Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, in any form beyond that copyright permitted by Section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law, without written permission from the publisher. SM

is trademarked by Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame.

Common Core Standards © Copyright 2010 National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved. Next Generation Science Standards © Copyright 2013 NGSS Lead States, The National Academies Press. All rights reserved. Published with support from the Avangrid Foundation (in partnership with CNG, SCG and UI), Ensign-Bickford Foundation, Inc. and Stanley Black and Decker. Special thanks to the educators on our review and revision team: • Julia Hladky, New Haven Public Schools • Sandra Inga, Retired, Hartford Public Schools • Mark Ruede, Tolland Middle School • Sophia Louros, Dunbar Elementary School, Bridgeport • Afton Gilyard, Hartford Public Schools

Table of Contents

Inductee In-depth Reading Passages Description Introduce students to Dr. Jewel

Plummer Cobb, a cellular biologist. The story highlights both relevant science content and the challenges she overcame as a woman in science.

Differentiation Provide students with the reading passage that aligns with their guided reading level.

04.1 Level J, K, L 04.2 Levels M, N 04.3 Levels O, P, Q 04.4 Levels R, S, T 04.5 Levels U, V, W 04.6 Levels X, Y, Z

Navigation Click directly on the image of any worksheet to access the printable version, then use the bookmarks icon to return to this page.

Standard By the end of the year, read and

comprehend literary nonfiction in the grades 6-8 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.3.10

Close Reading Description Use Cobb's story to develop your

students’ close reading skills. Review methods for close reading, including highlighting and annotating. Be sure to practice looking back in the text for evidence to support an answer.

Standards Cite textual evidence to

support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.1

Differentiation Provide students with the close reading printable that aligns with the passage read. Levels J, K, L Levels M - Q Levels R - T Levels U - Z

05.1 05.2 05.3 05.4

Navigation The page numbers for each student activity match the numbers in the teacher's guide for easy alignment.

Literacy Connections Vocabulary Practice Directions Read "Jewel Plummer Cobb". Use context clues to predict the meaning of bold words. Then, use a dictionary to find the actual meaning. Record a check mark if the actual meaning is similar to your prediction.

Differentiation Provide students with the worksheet aligned with their reading level.

08.1 Levels J - Q 08.2 Levels R - Z Students who read passages for levels J-Q have not yet been exposed to all of the vocabulary words in context. For this reason, Worksheet 8.1 includes examples of each word used in context. Students who read passages for levels R-Z can refer back to their reading passages for context clues.

Standard Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.4

Definitions

properties of life. Every living things is made up of structures called cells.

Cancer | a disease that causes certain cells in the body to grow out of control. Chemotherapy | use of medicines to treat cancer. Administrator | performance of executive duties. Minorities | group of people that differ in some way from the majority of the population. Biology | The study of cells and organisms. Cells | The cell is the smallest unit with the basic

Biased | a person prefers an idea and possibly does not give equal chance to a different idea. Microscope | a tool we can use to see things that are really small. Melanoma | a type of cancer that begins in the skin cells. Discriminated | is the unfair or prejudicial treatment of people and groups based on characteristics such as race, gender, age or sexual orientation.

A Career in Biology Students who are inspired by Dr. Jewel Plummer Cobb may want to consider a career as a cellular biologist and read more about careers in biology by visiting www.careerinstem.com/biology/

www.careerinstem.com

Literacy Connections 3-2-1 Word Cloud

Discussion Protocol

Directions Engage your students in

structured dialogue about Dr. Jewel Plummer Cobb by providing the opportunity for them to collaboratively create a word cloud based on the text. After students create their word clouds, challenge them to articulate new ideas that they developed as a team.

Standard Acquire and use accurately

grade-appropriate general academic and domain-specific words and phrases; gather vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to comprehension or expression.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.6.6

Science and Engineering Practices Activity Asking Questions Engage students in the inquiry process by providing students time to ask their own questions about cell structures. Divide the students into small groups to sort their questions. As a team, students evaluate whether each question is important enough to warrant ongoing whole-class study, and whether or not it is interesting enough to sustain their peers’ attention. Discuss the best questions with the whole class. Questions can be generated based on the reading about Jewell Plummer Cobb as well as videos of phenomena related to cell structure and function provided by The Wonder of Science. https://thewonderofscience.com/videos/2017/12/10/ls1a-structure-and-function

Disciplinary Core Ideas Discipline: Life Sciences M-LS-1: Conduct an investigation to provide evidence that living things are made up of cells; either one cell or many different numbers and types of cells. Guiding Questions What are the smallest units that make up living things? All living things are made up of cells, which is the smallest unit that can be said to be alive. An organism may consist of one Description single cell (unicellular) or many different numbers and types of cells (multicellular). Students will develop evidence that living things are made of Performance cells, distinguishing between living and non-living things, and Expectation understanding that living things may be made of one cell or many and varied cells. (MS-LS1-1)

Overview Organisms are living things. They meet all of the different characteristics for being alive, including being able to reproduce, having ordered organization, growing and developing, obtaining and using energy, responding to stimuli (a change in the environment around the organism). All organisms are also made up of cells, or the smallest units that make up living things. Organisms that are made up of many cells are called multicellular. Any living thing that is made of two or more cells is multicellular. Any living thing that is made of one cell is called unicellular. Scientists who study living organisms are called biologists. Biologists are able to look at cells up close using a scientific instrument called a microscope. A microscope magnifies tiny objects to make them look larger.

Student Worksheets Structure and Function Directions Introduce students to the core ideas of cell structure and function by assigning this brief reading passage and close reading question. Use the rubric below for any openended questions.

Standard Determine a central idea of a text and how it is conveyed

through particular details; provide a summary of the text distinct from personal opinions or judgments. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.2

Create a Comic Directions Encourage your students to create a

comic that illustrates the concepts of multicellular and unicellular organisms.

Language Arts Connections Speaking and Listening

Reading Informational Text

Click the links for related videos.

Click the link for a related reading passage.

•

Brainpop | https://educators.brainpop.com/ video/science-concept-map-cell-structures/

• Kids Britannica | https://kids.britannica.com/ kids/article/cell/352933

• CommonLit | “Let's See What You're Made Of"

Use the built-in “guided reading mode” to provide scaffolded questions to students or to allow them to listen to the text read aloud.

Crosscutting Concepts

Scale, Proportion, and Quantity Connections to Engineering, Technology and Applications of Science

? 12

Phenomena that can be observed at one scale may not be observable at another scale Students will explore what tools are necessary to provide evidence of living and non-living organisms.

Discussion Questions What makes something alive? • How do we know we are multicellular organisms? • How is the number of cells in an organism related to its overall size and function?

Designing Models Using the guiding question: “How does the

Standards Describe the relationship

Directions Different distances

This will reinforce the crosscutting concept that phenomena that can be observed at one scale may not be observable at another scale, and that humans are multicellular organisms composed of many tiny cells. Students should observe that cells seem invisible to us at larger distances, but with the help of scientific tools like magnifying glasses and microscopes, we can see cells quite well.

appearance of human skin change the closer you get?”, have students design models to observe the appearance of human skin at different distances.

should be across the room, sitting next to the person, using a magnifying glass, and finally observing human skin cells, either through a microscope if this and slides are available, or on printed images of human skin cells seen through a microscope.

between a series of scientific ideas or concepts using language that pertains to time, sequence, and cause/effect. Analyze in detail how a key individual, event, or idea is introduced, illustrated, and elaborated in a text (e.g., through examples or anecdotes). CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.

"The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks".

Teachers - use excerpts from the book or movie to show connections between Henrietta Lacks' cells (from a cancer tumor removal) that were the first grown in culture and how her cells have continued to be used in many major discoveries in cellular biology over the last 70 years.

Extension Activity: Students can research Henrietta Lacks and show how her life compares to Cobb'. The students will discover reasons behind the mistrust Black communities feel towards medical professionals and how it correlates to people's views about the current Covid-19 vaccine available to the public.

Science & Engineering Practices Cellular Investigations Have your students review characteristics of living and non-living organisms. This hands on experience is sure to heighten students' curiosity and desire to investigate the topic further.

Directions Using the chart, students will classify

the items as either living organisms or non-living objects. Determine if they are multicellular and unicellular organisms.

Microscope Activity "How can a microscope help us study living things?"

Using Tools Cheek Cell Lab Activity - www. ngssbiology.com Students will investigate the cells in their own body and compare it to a non-living organism using a microscope. • Students will be able to see real evidence for cells from their own body. NGSS Standards: MS-LS-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.

Engaging in Argument from Evidence Jewel Plummer Cobb was a biologist who studied cells to develop treatments like chemotherapy for a disease called cancer.

Directions Students should review the diagram

and describe the differences you see between the normal cells and the cancer cells forming a tumor. Have the students read the text and answer the questions to understand how cancer develops and how chemotherapy works.

Extension Activity: Engineering - Curing Cancer Define the criteria and constraints of a design problem with sufficient precision to ensure a successful solution, taking into account relevant scientific principles and potential impacts on people and the natural environment that may limit possible solutions. • Students can practice iterative design as their surgical tools improve during the activity. NGSSSTANDARD: MS-ETS1-1

Additional Resources Interdisciplinary Connections Writing Directions Ask the students to read the two quotes and

compare them to the discrimination Jewel Plummer Cobb felt while advancing through her field. This activity can be done in small groups. Encourage students to research racism and the effect it has on education. Have the students write their own passage in a first-person style of writing. Standard Compare and contrast one author’s presentation of events with that of another (e.g., a memoir written by and a biography on the same person). CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.9

Integrating Technology & Visual Art Collage:

One of the most important ways to take care of your skin is to protect it from the sun. A lifetime of sun exposure can cause wrinkles, age spots and other skin problems — as well as increase the risk of skin cancer. Have your students create a collage of ways to protect themselves from the sun.

Photos could include:

1. Sunscreen 2. Seek shade. Avoid the sun between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., when the sun's rays are strongest 3. Cover your skin with tightly woven long-sleeved shirts, long pants and wide-brimmed hats 4. Laundry additives, which give clothing an additional layer of ultraviolet protection for a certain number of washings, or special sun-protective clothing — which is specifically designed to prevent ultraviolet rays

Women in STEM Today Jennifer A. Doudna, Ph.D Biochemist and Cellular Biologist Known for her new method of editing genes, Dr. Doudna has profoundly influenced the future of genetic engineering and medicine. She was recently named one of the "50 Top Women in STEM."

[Eloy Alonso—Reuters/Landov]

Elizabeth Blackwell Being the First American woman to receive a medical degree Elizabeth Blackwell has shown esteemed participation for representing women in the medical field and eventually opened her own medical college for women.

Mary Corinna Putman Born August 31, 1842, this accomplished American medical physician was an advocate for medicinal education. Along with being a female rights advocate, contributing to the fight for women’s educational opportunities, her work in the medical field opened doors for future females to follow.

References Images & Resources Image Credits

http://sciencenetlinks.com/student-teacher-sheets/observing-skin-cells-lab-sheet/ http://blog.microscopeworld.com/2016/03/human-nonpigmented-skin-undermicroscope. html Source: MacMillan Cancer Support https://www.cellsalive.com/puzzles/animal_cell_puzzle.html Melanoma Cell Image: Wikipedia/CC BY-SA 3.0 Content ©2016. All Rights Reserved. Date last modified: May 4, 2016 Created by Wayne W. LaMorte, MD, PhD, MPH, Boston University School of Public Health

Embedded Resources Articles Videos

Resources

“Where Did I Come From?” CommonLit • https://int.nyt.com/data/documenttools/what-students-are-saying-about• Brainpop | https://educators.brainpop.com/video/science-concept-map-cellstructures/ • Kids Britannica | https://kids.britannica.com/kids/article/cell/352933raceandracismin-america/04be395f917e0100/full.pdf • http://cdn.zspace.com/downloads/documentation/stem-activity-plans/ unicellular-vs-multicellular-organisms.pdf • https://www.teachengineering.org/activities/view/cub_curingcancer_activity1 • https://kids.britannica.com/kids/article/cell/352933 • https://thewonderofscience.com/videos/2017/12/10/ls1a-structure-andfunction • https://www.biologycorner.com/worksheets/microscope_use.html • “Biologist" CareerInSTEM. • http://www.accessexcellence.org/AE/AEC/AEF/1995/porter_cell.html • Microscope Worksheet: Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. ©2001 • html Source: MacMillan Cancer Support

References

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https://thewonderofscience.com/videos/2017/12/10/ls1a-structure-and-function 2013 by Regents of the University of Colorado https://undark.org/article/remembering-jewel-isadora-plummer-cobb/ MacMillan Cancer Support National Cancer Institute CommonLit, "Let's See What You're Made Of" By BirdBrain Science, 2016 https://kidshealth.org/2016 The Nemours Foundation/KidsHealth https://kids.britannica.com Ketcham, Diane. “About Long Island; A Very Private Legend.” The New York Times, 26 July 1992,p.LI13. Amazing Cells—A Cell Biology Unit for Grades 5 through 7 Developed by Washington MESA and University of Washington Genome Sciences Education Outreach National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, Council of Chief State School Officers. Common Core State Standards: English Language Art. 2010. Washington DC.: National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, Council of Chief State School Officer, 2017 A Framework for K-12 Science Education Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas. Copyright National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved https://www.cwhf.org/inductees/jewel-pummer-cobb Barham, James. "50 Top Women in STEM." The Best Schools, TheBestSchools.org Next Generation Science Standards: For States, By States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. Access Excellence @ The National Health Museum Activities Exchange https://www.mayoclinc.org/healthy-lifestyle/adult-health/in-depth/skin-care/art-20048237 https://tressacademic.com/creative-commons/

Jewel Plummer Cobb Reading Passages

Name

Date

[1] Jewel Plummer Cobb was a scientist. She did experiments to learn about cancer. She later was in charge of a university. She helped more women and Black and Latinx people go to college. [2] Jewel’s great-grandparents were enslaved. Jewel was born in 1924 in Chicago, Illinois. [3] Jewel was interested in biology, the study of living things. However, her school was segregated. Only black students went to her school. Her school got less money from the government than other schools. But, Jewel took extra classes to be ready for college. [4] Jewel wanted to go to New York University. She was rejected because of the color of her skin. She experienced discrimination. But Jewel didn’t give up. She went to meet the professors. They liked her very much. She was accepted into the university. She became a doctor! [5] Dr. Cobb learned about human cells infected with cancer. Cancer makes people sick. Dr. Cobb learned that some drugs can stop cancer. This treatment is chemotherapy. Her research helped fight cancer. [6] Dr. Cobb came to Connecticut in 1967. She became a professor at Connecticut College. She helped women and minorities get jobs as scientists. [7] Dr. Cobb became the President of California State University at Fullerton in 1981. She was one of the first black women to have this job.

SM |

04.1

Jewel Plummer Cobb Reading Passages

Name

Date

[1] Jewel Plummer Cobb was a scientist. She did experiments to find out how to treat cancer. She later was in charge of a university. She helped more women and Black and Latinx people go to college. [2] Jewel’s great-grandparents were enslaved. Jewel was born in 1924 in Chicago, Illinois. Both her father and grandfather were scientists. [3] Jewel was interested in biology, the study of living things. In high school, she looked at cells through a microscope. Cells are the tiny pieces that make up the human body. However, her school was segregated. Only black students went to her school. Her school got fewer resources from the government than schools with all white students. But, Jewel took extra biology classes to be prepared for college. [4] After high school, she went to the University of Michigan. She was forced to live in a segregated dormitory. Jewel remembered, “I didn’t like the idea of living where only black students could live.” She decided to go to Talladega College in Alabama. Black students could get a good education there. [5] Jewel then applied to graduate school at New York University. She was rejected because of the color of her skin. She experienced discrimination. But Jewel stuck to her guns. She went to the university in person and demanded an interview. The biology professors decided to accept her into the university. She earned her Master’s Degree and Ph.D. in cell biology from NYU. [6] Dr. Cobb worked in many different laboratories. She studied human cells infected with cancer. Cancer makes people sick. Dr. Cobb learned that some drugs stopped the cancer. This treatment is chemotherapy. Her research helped fight cancer. [7] She was one of the people in charge of the college. She created programs to make sure that women and minorities could get jobs as scientists. These jobs were traditionally held by white men. [8] Dr. Cobb became President at California State University at Fullerton in 1981. She was one of the first black women to be president of a university. She developed programs that increased the academic achievements of minorities and women. Dr. Cobb died in 2017 at age 92.

SM |

04.2

Jewel Plummer Cobb Reading Passages

Name

Date

[1] Jewel Plummer Cobb was a scientist. She did research on treatments for cancer that are still used today. She later became an administrator at a university. She helped more women and Black and Latinx people go to college. [2] Jewel’s great-grandparents were enslaved. Jewel was born in 1924 in Chicago, Illinois. Both her father and grandfather were scientists. [3] As a teen-ager, Jewel became interested in biology. She looked at cells through a microscope. She liked seeing the tiny pieces that make up the human body. However, her school was segregated and had fewer resources than the all white schools. Jewel took extra biology classes to be prepared for college. [4] After high school, she went to the University of Michigan. She was forced to live in a segregated dormitory. Jewel remembered, “I didn’t like the idea of living where only black students could live.” She decided to go to Talladega College in Alabama. Talladega College is a historically black college. Jewel graduated in 1944. [5] Jewel then applied to graduate school at New York University. She was rejected and discriminated against because of the color of her skin. But Jewel stuck to her guns. She went to the university in person and demanded an interview. The biology professors decided to accept her into the university. She earned her Master’s Degree and Ph.D. in cell biology from NYU. [6] Dr. Cobb worked in many different laboratories. She studied human cells infected with cancer. She learned that some drugs stopped the cancer. This treatment is chemotherapy. Her research helped fight cancer. [7] Dr. Cobb came to Connecticut in 1967. She became a dean and professor at Connecticut College. She researched how ultraviolet light from the sun can damage skin cells. This leads to melanoma, or skin cancer. [8] She became an administrator. She was one of the people in charge of the college. She wanted to bring more women and people of color into the sciences. She created programs to make sure that women and minorities would have access to jobs as researchers. These jobs were traditionally held by white males. [9] Dr. Cobb became President at California State University at Fullerton in 1981. She was one of the first black women to be president of a university. She developed programs that increased the academic achievements of minorities and women. Dr. Cobb died in 2017 at age 92. SM |

04.3

Jewel Plummer Cobb Reading Passages

Name

Date

[1] Jewel Plummer Cobb was a research scientist. She developed chemotherapy treatments for cancer that are still used today. She later became an administrator at a university. She helped more women and Black and Latinx people go to college. [2] Jewel was the great-granddaughter of slaves. She was born in 1924 in Chicago, Illinois. Both her father and grandfather were educated scientists. In the1930s, Jewel lived in a segregated community where only black people lived. She attended all black public schools that got less funding than the all white schools. [3] As a teenager, Jewel became interested in biology. She looked at cells through a microscope. She liked seeing the tiny pieces that make up the human body. However, her school was segregated. It had fewer resources than the all white schools. Jewel got good grades, but she was worried that she would not be ready for college. She took an entire extra year of biology classes to be prepared. [4] After high school, she attended the University of Michigan, but was once again limited by segregation. Jewel remembered, “I was forced to live in a dormitory that was segregated, all the black students lived there. I didn’t like the idea of living where only black students could live.” She decided to transfer to Talladega College in Alabama, a historically black college, and graduated in 1944. [5] Jewel then applied to graduate school at New York University but was rejected and discriminated against because of the color of her skin. She recalled that “Even then, NYU was considered to be…very much biased against blacks.” But Jewel stuck to her guns. She went to the university in person and demanded an interview. The biology professors were impressed by her. They accepted her into the university. She earned her Master’s Degree and Ph.D. in cell biology from NYU. [6] Over the years, Dr. Cobb did research in many different laboratories. She studied human cells infected with cancer. She learned that certain drugs, a treatment called chemotherapy, stopped the cancer. Her research helped fight cancer. [7] She came to Connecticut in 1967, becoming a professor at Connecticut College. She researched how ultraviolet light from the sun can damage skin cells. This leads to melanoma, or skin cancer. [8] Though she began as a cellular biologist, she eventually transitioned into working as an educator and administrator. She once said in an interview, “I felt I could make more changes and be more influential” as an administrator. She created programs to make sure that women and minorities would have access to jobs as researchers. These jobs were traditionally held by white males. [9] Dr. Cobb became President at California State University at Fullerton. There, she developed programs that increased the academic achievements of minorities and women. Cobb’s work increased the number of women and people of color moving into the STEM fields. STEM means science, technology, engineering, and math. She passed away in 2017 at age 92.

SM |

04.4

Jewel Plummer Cobb Reading Passages

Name

Date

[1] Jewel Plummer Cobb was a research scientist. She developed chemotherapy treatments for cancer that are still used today. She later became an administrator at a university. She helped more women and Black and Latinx people go to college. [2] Jewel was the great-granddaughter of slaves. She was born in 1924 in Chicago, Illinois. Both her father and grandfather were educated scientists. In the 1930s, Jewel lived in a segregated community where only black people lived. She attended all black public schools that got less funding than the all white schools. [3] As a teenager, Jewel became fascinated with biology after studying cells through a microscope. She thought it was amazing to use a scientific instrument to see the tiny elements that make up our skin, hair, organs, and bones. However, she was forced to attend a segregated high school with fewer resources than the all white schools. Jewel got good grades, but she was worried that the quality of her education wouldn’t be enough to prepare her for college. She responded by taking an entire extra year of biology classes. [4] After high school, she attended the University of Michigan, but was once again limited by segregation. Jewel remembered, “I was forced to live in a dormitory that was segregated, all the black students lived there. I didn’t like the idea of living where only black students could live.” She decided to transfer to Talladega College in Alabama, a historically black college, and graduated in 1944. [5] Jewel then applied to graduate school at New York University but was rejected and discriminated against because of the color of her skin. She recalled that “Even then, NYU was considered to be… very much biased against blacks.” But Jewel stuck to her guns. She went to the university in person and demanded an interview. The biology professors were impressed by her. They decided to accept her into the university. She earned her Master’s Degree and Ph.D. in cell biology from NYU. [6] Over the years, Dr. Cobb did research in many different laboratories. She studied the effects of chemotherapy drugs on human cells infected with cancer. She learned information that was used to create new and better cancer-fighting tools. [7] She came to Connecticut in 1967, becoming a dean and professor at Connecticut College. She researched how ultraviolet light from the sun can damage skin cells. This leads to melanoma, or skin cancer. [8] Though she began as a cellular biologist, she eventually transitioned into working as an educator and administrator. She wanted to bring more women and people of color into the sciences. She once said in an interview, “I felt I could make more changes and be more influential” as an administrator. She created programs to make sure that women and minorities would have access to jobs as researchers. These jobs were traditionally held by white males. [9] When she accepted the position of President at California State University at Fullerton, Dr. Cobb became the first black female president of a college west of the Mississippi River. In this position, she was able to develop programs specifically for minorities to increase their academic achievements. Cobb’s work increased the number of women and people of color moving into the STEM fields. She passed away in 2017 at age 92. SM |

04.5

Jewel Plummer Cobb Reading Passages

Name

Date

[1] Jewel Plummer Cobb was a research scientist and developed chemotherapy treatments for cancer that are still used today. She later became an academic administrator and advocated for women and Black and Latinx people in higher education. [2] The great-granddaughter of Maryland slaves, Jewel was born in 1924 in Chicago, Illinois. Both her father and grandfather were educated scientists. But Jewel was born in an era of segregation when race mattered more than class and upbringing. In the 1930s, Jewel lived in a segregated community and attended all black public schools in Chicago. Jewel’s parents taught her to read at an early age. Her interest in science was helped along by her access to her father’s library of scientific journals and magazines. [3] As a teenager, Jewel became fascinated with biology after studying cells through a microscope. She thought it was amazing to use a scientific instrument to see the tiny elements that make up our skin, hair, organs, and bones. However, she was forced to attend a less academically rigorous high school due to segregation. Jewel got good grades, but she was worried that the quality of her education wouldn’t be enough to prepare her for college. She responded by taking an entire extra year of biology classes. [4] After high school, she attended the University of Michigan, but was once again limited by segregation. Jewel remembered, “I was forced to live in a dormitory that was segregated, all the black students lived there. It became very difficult for me at that time. I didn’t like the idea of living in a certain part of Ann Arbor where only black students could live.” She decided to transfer to Talladega College in Alabama, a historically black college, and graduated in 1944. [5] Jewel then applied to graduate school at New York University but was rejected and discriminated against because of the color of her skin. She recalled that “Even then, NYU was considered to be… very much biased against blacks and anybody who was black would be considered something wrong with them one way or another.” But Jewel stuck to her guns; she went to the university in person, demanded an interview, and impressed the biology professors so much that she was given a fellowship. She earned her Master’s Degree and Ph.D. in cell biology from NYU. [6] Over the years, Dr. Cobb did research in many different laboratories. She examined the effects of chemotherapy drugs on human cells infected with cancer. She learned information that was used to create new and more effective cancer fighting tools. [7] She came to Connecticut in 1967, becoming a dean and professor at Connecticut College. She focused her research on studying how ultraviolet light from the sun can damage skin cells and lead to melanoma, or skin cancer. [8] Though she began as a cellular biologist, she eventually transitioned into working as an educator and administrator in an effort to bring more women and people of color into the sciences. She once said in an interview, “I moved to administration without any regrets. At the time period, I felt I could make more changes and be more influential.” She created and modeled programs to make sure that women and minorities would have access to positions that were traditionally held by white males. [9] When she accepted the position of President at California State University at Fullerton, Dr. Cobb became the first black female president of a college west of the Mississippi River. In this position, she was able to develop programs specifically for minorities to increase their academic achievements. Cobb’s work increased the number of women and people of color moving into the STEM fields. She passed away in 2017 at age 92. SM |

04.6

Jewel Plummer Cobb Close Reading

Name

Date

DIRECTIONS: Read “Jewel Plummer Cobb.” Then answer the following questions using details from the reading.

What does the word chemotherapy most likely mean? Research on skin cancer The treatment of cancer using drugs The process of examining cancer cells in a microscope. Programs to encourage women and people of color to become scientist

Which detail from paragraphs 3 and 4 supports the idea that Jewel’s determination and talent helped her overcome the discrimination she faced? She went to the university to meet with the professors. She was accepted into the university. She was interested in biology, the study of living things. Her school was segregated and got less money than other schools. She was rejected because of the color of her skin.

Jewel Plummer Cobb experienced discrimination when she was young. What did this inspire her to do later in her life? Use two pieces of evidence from the text to support your answer.

________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________

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05.1

Jewel Plummer Cobb CLose Reading

Name

Date

DIRECTIONS: Read “Jewel Plummer Cobb.” Then answer the following questions using details from the reading.

Which detail from paragraphs 3 -5 supports the idea that Jewel’s determination and talent helped her overcome the discrimination she faced? She went to the university to meet with the professors. She was accepted into the university. She was interested in biology, the study of living things. Her school was segregated and got less money than other schools. She was rejected because of the color of her skin.

What does “stuck to her guns” mean as it is used in paragraph 5? Jewel was discriminated against for the color of her skin. Jewel refused to give up. Jewel was an impressive scientist. Jewel carried weapons when she visited the university.

Jewel Plummer Cobb experienced discrimination when she was young. What did this inspire her to do later in her life? Use two pieces of evidence from the text to support your answer.

05.2

Jewel Plummer Cobb Close Reading

Name

Date

DIRECTIONS: Read “Jewel Plummer Cobb.” Then answer the following questions using details from the reading. 1.

Read the sentence from the passage. “However, her school was segregated and had fewer resources than the all-white schools. Jewel took extra biology classes to be prepared for college.” What does this excerpt tell the reader?

Highlight one sentence in the passage that you think best supports the idea that Jewel’s determination and talent helped her overcome the discrimination she faced?

Jewel Plummer Cobb experienced discrimination when she was young. What did this inspire her to do later in her life? Use two pieces of evidence from the text to support your answer.

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05.3

Jewel Plummer Cobb Close Reading

Name

Date

DIRECTIONS: Read “Jewel Plummer Cobb.” Then answer the following questions using details from the reading. 1.

Read the sentence from the passage. “However, she was forced to attend a less academically rigorous high school due to segregation.”

What does this sentence tell the reader? ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ 2.

Read the sentence from the passage. “Though she began as a cellular biologist, she eventually transitioned into working as an educator and administrator, in an effort to bring more women and people of color into the sciences.” Jewel then applied to for graduate school at New York University, but was rejected because of her race. She produced research still used to create new and more effective cancer fighting tools. She created and modeled programs to make sure that women and minorities would have access to a positions that were traditionally held by white males. Dr. Cobb became the first African-American female president of a college west of the Mississippi River.

Why did Jewel leave the University of Michigan to go to Talladega College? Talladega College offered the extra biology courses that Jewel wanted to take. The University of Michigan did not allow black students to live in the same dorms as white students. The University of Michigan rejected Jewel because of the color of her skin. Talladega College historically did not accept black students, but made an exception for Jewel.

Highlight one sentence in the passage that you think best supports the idea that Jewel’s determination and talent helped her overcome the discrimination she faced.

Jewel Plummer Cobb experienced discrimination when she was young. What did this inspire her to do later in her life? Use two pieces of evidence from the text to support your answer.

________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ SM |

05.4

Jewel Plummer Cobb Terms & Definitions

Name

Date

DIRECTIONS: Read “Jewel Plummer Cobb.” Use context clues to predict the meaning of bold words.

Then, use a dictionary to find the actual meaning. Record a check mark if the actual meaning is similar to your prediction.

Word(s)

Sentence(s)

Predicted Meaning

cancer chemotherapy administrator minorities biology

cells

biased microscope melanoma discriminated

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06.1

Jewel Plummer Cobb Terms and Definitions

Name

Date

DIRECTIONS: Read “Jewel Plummer Cobb”. Use context clues from the story to predict the meaning

of the following words and phrases.

Word(s)

Sentence(s)

cancer

She studied human cells infected with cancer.

chemotherapy

She developed chemotherapy treatments for cancer that are still used today.

administrator

She once said in an interview, “I felt I could make more changes and be more influential” as an administrator.

minorities

She created and modeled programs to make sure that women and minorities would have access to positions that were traditionally held by white males.

biology

As a teen-ager, Jewel became fascinated with biology after studying cells through a microscope.

cells

She looked at cells through a microscope. She liked seeing the tiny pieces that make up the human body.

biased

“Even then, NYU was considered to be… very much biased against blacks and anybody who was black would be considered something wrong with them one way or another.”

microscope

As a teen-ager, Jewel became fascinated with biology after studying cells through a microscope.

melanoma

She researched how ultraviolet light from the sun can damage skin cells. This leads to melanoma.

discriminated

Jewel then applied to graduate school at New York University but was rejected and discriminated against because of the color of her skin.

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Predicted Meaning

06.2

Jewel Plummer Cobb 3 2 1 Word Cloud

Name

Date

DIRECTIONS: Choose 3 words, 2 phrases, and 1 sentence from the text that you think best represent who Dr. Jewel Plummer Cobb was and what she was all about. Then, share your ideas with your team and combine them to make a “word cloud.”

WORDS

1. 2. 3.

PHRASES

1. 2.

SENTENCE

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Jewel Plummer Cobb Question Sort

Name

Date

YES

Is it important?

DIRECTIONS: Write the questions you have created on sticky notes. Work with your team to sort the questions onto the question matrix.

YES

Is it interesting?

YES

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Is it important?

09.1

Jewel Plummer Cobb Structure and Function

Name

Date

DIRECTIONS: Review the passage and answer the two questions below. Have you ever played with a puzzle? If you have, then you know that all the individual puzzle pieces fit together to make one complete picture. Living things, or organisms, work the same way. Our bodies are made up of tiny pieces, and when the pieces are put together they make us! We call these tiny pieces cells.

[source: https://www.cellsalive.com/puzzles/animal_cell_puzzle.html]

What type of puzzle do you think is made up of more pieces: a large puzzle or a small puzzle? Large puzzles have more pieces. What is made up of more cells: a large organism or a small organism? If you said large, you are right! Elephants are made up of many more cells than a very tiny mouse. This makes sense, because elephants are much larger organisms than mice!

Dogs, people, and trees are animals and plants that are made up of many cells. Organisms that are made up of many cells are called multicellular. “Multi” means many, and “cellular” means made up of cells. Any living thing that is made of two or more cells is multicellular. Some living things, like bacteria, only have one cell. Any living thing that is made of one cell is called unicellular. “Uni” means one, and as you just learned, “cellular” means made up of cells. A microscope is a tool we can use to see things that are really small. When unicellular living things are very small and cannot be seen without using a microscope, we call them microscopic. [Source: CommonLit, “Let's See What You're Made Of” By BirdBrain Science, 2016]

What is the authors main purpose in this text? To explain the difference between bacteria and animals To explain how all living things are composed of cells To show that difficult ideas can be explained in easy ways To show how we can study unicellular organisms with microscopes

Which TWO of the following statements best identify the central idea of this text? Microscopes can be used to view small multicellular organisms. No one can study unicellular organisms because they are microscopic. All living things are organisms made up of cells. Living things need many types of cells to survive. Large multicellular organisms have more cells than smaller or unicellular organisms.

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11.1

Jewel Plummer Cobb Create a Comic

Name

Date

DIRECTIONS: As a graphic novelist you are asked to create a comic that illustrates the concepts of

multicellular and unicellular organisms.

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11.2

Jewel Plummer Cobb Designing Models

Name

Date

DIRECTIONS: Considering the question “How does the appearance of human skin change the closer

you get?”, design a model observing the appearance of human skin at different distances.

Action

Observation

Sitting next to each other 10 feet away from each other Use a magnifying glass Images of human skin under a microscope (use the images below or do some research)

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Jewel Plummer Cobb Investigations

Name

Date

DIRECTIONS: Review the list of characteristics of living organisms. Classify items as either living or

nonliving in the table below.

Characteristics of living things (organisms): 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

6. Respond to stimuli (a change in the environment around the organism) 7. Maintain homeostasis (ability to maintain internal stability to compensate for environmental changes.)

Are made of cells and DNA Are able to reproduce Display ordered organization Can grow and develop Obtain and use energy

Classify the following items as either living organisms or non-living: How do you know?

Living Organism

Non-living object

Use the above list of characteristics to justify your answer.

Earthworm Dog Water bottle Computer Bacteria Rabbit Human Car Water Plankton Mushroom Wood Robot Tree Hummingbird Amoeba Sunflower seed SM |

14.1

Jewel Plummer Cobb Investigations

Name

Date

DIRECTIONS: Now, take your list of living organisms identified in worksheet 14.1 and separate them into multicellular and unicellular organisms. Multicellular Organism

Unicellular Organism

What is the differece between unicellular and multicellular organisims?

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14.2

Jewel Plummer Cobb Microscope Study

Name

Date

I. How Can a Microscope Help Us Study Living Things? • Biology: the study of living things. • Some living things are so small we can’t see them with the naked eye alone. Many of these are one celled organisms called PROTOZOA [pro tuh ZO uh] and BACTERIA. • We can see such tiny things with the help of a high-power microscope. A microscope magnifies, or makes things look bigger. • Have you ever used a magnifying glass? It is a simple microscope. • A magnifying glass, or hand lens, is easy to use. It doesn’t weigh much, and it’s easy to carry. But it doesn’t magnify objects very much. We still cannot see one-celled plants and animals with a hand lens. • A compound microscope is much more powerful than a simple microscope. Most school microscopes are compound microscope. They can make objects look 100 to 400 times as big as they really are. Some compound microscopes magnify more than a thousand times. When we say “microscope,” we usually mean a compound microscope. • The microscope has many uses, especially in biology – the study of living things. • Doctors often use microscopes. Is there one in your doctor’s office?

2. Parts of a Microscope Eyepiece: Lens closest to the eye. High Power Objective: Longer of the two lenses close to the slide. Lower Power Objective: Shorter of the two lenses close to the slide. Tube: Gives the distance needed between the eyepiece and objective. Coarse Adjustment Knob: Moves the tube up and down. Fine Adjustment Knob: Also moves the tube up and down but only slightly. Base: Holds up the entire microscope. Arm: Holds the tube and lenses. Connects to the base. Nosepiece: Holds objective lenses. Light: Shines light into the tube. Diaphragm: Circular disk that lets more or less light pass through. Stage: Platform for slide to rest. An opening in its center lets light pass through. Clips(2): Hold the slide in place on the stage. [ Source: Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. © 2001] SM |

14.3

Jewel Plummer Cobb Microscope Activity

Name

Date

DIRECTIONS: Using worksheet 14.3 as a guide, write the name of the microscope part next to the correct line in the picture.

Parts of a Microscope

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14.4

Jewel Plummer Cobb Microscope Activity

Name

Date

Parts of a Microscope Answer Key (teacher reference)

Ocular Lense (Eyepiece) Body Tube

Revolving Nosepiece Arm Objectives

Stage Stage Clips Coarse Adjustment Knob

Diaphragm

Fine Adjustment Knob Light Source

Base

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14.4

Jewel Plummer Cobb Cheek Cell Lab

Name

Date

DIRECTIONS: Using a microscope, students can investigate their own cells and compare it to a nonliving organism.

Procedures: Cells from the inside lining of your cheek are good for learning how to stain. Gently scrape the inside of your mouthwith the flat side of a tooth pick. This scraping will collect some of your cheek cells. (Don’t worry, these cells are constantly being shed from your mouth so they will not be missed!) Place the cells on a flat slide and make a wet mount slide. Now repeat this procedure so that you have two wet mounts of cells from the inside of your cheek. Now you need to add stain to one slide. To add stain, put a drop of the stain next to the cover slip on the slide and then draw it under the cover slip by placing a piece of paper towel against the other side of the cover slip. The paper towel will soak up the water, drawing the stain under the cover slip around the cell. Using high power, draw one cell in each of the circles to the right. Draw using detail.

Cheek Cell With Iodine

Cheek Cell Without Iodine

Magnification

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14.5

Jewel Plummer Cobb Cheek Cell Lab

Name

Date

DIRECTIONS: Write in the Venn Diagram the similarities and differences you observed through the microscope.

Compare and Contrast Venn Diagram: Cheek Cell With Iodine

Cheek Cell Without Iodine

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14.6

Jewel Plummer Cobb Using Evidence

Name

Date

Jewel Plummer Cobb was a biologist who studied cells to develop treatments like chemotherapy for a disease called cancer. DIRECTIONS: Using the diagram below, describe the differences you see between the normal cells and the cancer cells forming a tumor.

Normal cells

Cells forming a tumor [Source: MacMillan Cancer Support]

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15.1

Jewel Plummer Cobb Using Evidence

Name

Date

DIRECTIONS: Read the following text and answer the questions below. Cancer is the name given to a collection of related diseases. In all types of cancer, some of the body’s cells begin to divide without stopping and spread into surrounding tissues. Cancer can start almost anywhere in the human body, which is made up of trillions of cells. Normally, human cells grow and divide to form new cells as the body needs them. When cells grow old or become damanged, they die, and new cells take their place. When cancer develops, however, this orderly process breaks down. As cells become more and more abnormal, old or damaged cells survive when they should die, and new cells form when they are not needed. These extra cells can divide without stopping and may form growths called turmors. Chemotherapy (also called chemo) is a type of cancer treatment that uses drugs to kill cancer cells. Chemotherapy works by stopping or slowing the growth of cancer cells, which grow and divide quickly. Chemotherapy can be used to cure cancer, lessen the change it will return, or stop or slow its growth. Chemotherapy can also be used to shrink tumors that are causing pain and other problems. [Source: National Cancer Institue] 1.

How does cancer develop?

How does chemotherapy work?

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15.2

Jewel Plummer Cobb Curing Cancer Activity

Name

Date

Biomedical engineers help medical doctors improve cancer treatment by designing the best tools, medicines and machines that selectively remove the cancer cells while leaving healthy cells. In today’s activity, we are going to design a tool to surgically remove cancer cells. The cancer cells will be represented by lima beans (show the class). The lima beans will be mixed up with lentil beans, which represent healthy cells (show the class the lentils). Your engineering challenge is to design a tool that can quickly remove the cancer cells but leave as many healthy cells as possible. If you cannot remove the cancer cells quickly enough, they will start to multiply. This means that the tumor will grow bigger and be even more difficult to remove. In this engineering design challenge, your group will brainstorm solutions, build a prototype, test your solution, and then keep improving the solution as best as you can during the activity. Your goal is to make the best tool possible.

Materials List Each group needs: • 1 sandwich bag with 20 lentils • 1 sandwich bag with ~100 lima beans • 1 4-6 oz. paper cup • stopwatch or timer To share with the entire class: • hot glue sticks and hot glue gun • masking tape

Each group may choose materials from the following supplies to build its cancer removing tool: • popsicle sticks • drinking straws • toothpicks • aluminum foil • index cards • string • pipe cleaners • various-sized paper cups • Curing Cancer Worksheet, one per group

*Please note: These are suggested materials only; successful tools can be made with a wide variety of other craft materials as well.

Activity Rules 1. Each trial is one-minute long. 2. Any cancer cells left at the end of the trial are doubled before the next round. 3. You beat cancer when all the cancer cells are gone. (BEAT) 4. You lose if the tumor becomes greater than 100 cells, or if you remove more than 10 healthy cells. (LOST) 5. If you just beat cancer, good job! Now, try again with a larger number of cancer cells.

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15.3

Jewel Plummer Cobb Curing Cancer Activity

Name

Date

DIRECTIONS: Complete a row for each trial. For the Outcomes, please write either “BEAT” or “LOST.”

Trial

Starting number Ending number of cancer cells of cancer cells

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Starting number of healthy cells

Ending number of healthy cells

Outcome

15.4

Jewel Plummer Cobb Writing

Name

Date

DIRECTIONS: Read the quote aloud. Compare the modern day quote from students to the discrimination Jewel Plummer Cobb felt while advancing through her career. How is it similar when you complete the comparison, answer the question below. 1. “As a black girl, I have dealt with a lot of comments from others over the years pertaining to my skin color and other features that make me a person of color. I still remember girls telling me my hair looked “normal” after straightening it, or girls petting my curly hair calling it “different,” treating me not like a person, but an exotic object. During the summer, when moments like the Black Lives Matter protests took place, I realized how many of my “friends” weren’t willing to say anything. It made me feel sad knowing they decided to stay silent. I also couldn’t believe the city I was born in would later be known as the city where the life of Floyd was taken.” — Naomi, Georgia

2. I feel that there is no real definite solution to racism, but there are steps that can be taken to get closer to equality. Step 1 would be to teach your kids how to show compassion and how not to judge someone by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. By doing this, the next generation will grow up knowing how to not judge others by the way that they look but by the way they act and the decisions they make. Step 2 would be to educate this generation and the next about racism and the correct history behind it. It is mostly ignorance that causes people to make poor judgment on others and treat others unfairly and that is what I believe is one of the main causes of racism. Step 3 would be to enforce the change of history books and to encourage communities to work for each other not against each other. —Aidan, Illinois

Use a first-person style, write your own beliefs about racism in the U.S. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________ SM |

16.1

Jewel Plummer Cobb Visual Art

Name

Date

DIRECTIONS: Have your students create a collage using a variety of photos of ways to protect themselves from the sun.

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16.2