Alice Ball Lesson Plan: Individuals’ Contributions and Identities

Grade Levels: 3-5, 6-8, 9-12

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This lesson accompanies the BrainPOP topic Alice Ball, and supports the standard of analyzing individuals’ contributions to scientific progress. Students demonstrate understanding through a variety of projects.

Step 1: ACTIVATE PRIOR KNOWLEDGE

Display the following image from the movie (time stamp: 0:53):

Explain to students that leprosy was a disease that caused skin to grow lumps, change color, or tear. Ask: 

  • How do you think people treated lepers, or people with leprosy? Why? 

Step 2: BUILD KNOWLEDGE

Step 3: APPLY and ASSESS 

Assign the Alice Ball Challenge and Quiz, prompting students to apply essential literacy skills while demonstrating what they learned about this topic.

Step 4: DEEPEN and EXTEND

Students express what they learned about Alice Ball while practicing essential literacy skills with one or more of the following activities. Differentiate by assigning ones that meet individual student needs.

  • Make-a-Movie:  Produce a movie tribute to Alice Ball, describing her accomplishments. In your tribute, answer this question: What is Ball’s legacy?
  • Make-a-Map: Make a concept map sequencing key events and accomplishments in Alice Ball’s life. 
  • Creative Coding: Code a museum with artifacts representing Alice Ball’s impact on medicine.

More to Explore

Famous Scientists Unit: Continue to build understanding around the contributions of scientists with more BrainPOP topics.

Teacher Support Resources:

Lesson Plan Common Core State Standards Alignments

Related:

    Filed as:  3-5, 6-8, 9-12, Alice Ball, BrainPOP, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.1, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.2, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.1, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.2, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.4