Celebrating Women in Science

By AACT on March 3, 2025

March is designated as Women's History Month as an annual observance to highlight the contributions of women to events in history and contemporary society. AACT has compiled a list of exciting and valuable teaching resources to support awareness of the many achievements of women in science. 

The lesson plans below were selected from the AACT Collection of the American Chemical Society’s National Historic Chemical Landmarks Program. In each of these lessons, students will learn about the significant chemistry contributions from incredible women:

The selected videos below are from the Spellbound video series and each tells the story of a female scientist whose childhood curiosity about everyday things helped them launch careers in the lab, win Nobel Prizes, and make other achievements:

ChemMatters Magazine is an award-winning high school chemistry magazine from the American Chemical Society that helps students demystify chemistry and make connections to the world around them. The select articles below feature the successes of great women in science:

Chemistry Solutions is an easy-to-use and easy-to-implement online resource for and by K–12 teachers of chemistry. Each issue highlights innovative, creative ideas for the chemistry classroom. The articles below were selected to be featured in support of Women's History Month:

There are even more great teaching resources from the AACT Classroom Resource Library that can be used in celebration of Women's History month, including: 
  • The lesson, Famous Women Chemists: Snapchat Storyboard, that tasks students with researching female chemists and creating a 6-panel ‘Snapchat’ storyboard to present the information learned.
  • Watch the video of Lise Meitner, a pioneering female scientist in the field of nuclear chemistry, who was denied a Nobel Prize but has an Element named in her honor. Students can follow along while answering a short set of Video Questions
  • Share the video about Marie Curie, including her Nobel Prizes, radiation experiments, and discovery of new elements. Students can follow along while answering a short set of Video Questions