Women of Distinction

Around the world, women are accomplishing wonders! Create a 3-D game to highlight notable women in sports, science, politics, and other fields.

• 1.

  A Chinese expression says, "Women hold up half the sky." What do you think? How familiar are you with the achievements of women from around the world, past and present? Here’s one way to create a 3-D game to help you build your knowledge.

• 2.

  Research notable women in history, with each person in the class choosing a different person. You will find many women in the sciences, arts, and sports as well as women who are making a difference as writers, explorers, inventors, and leaders. With Crayola® Erasable Colored Pencils, take notes about each woman, including her name, important dates, achievements, and other interesting information.

• 3.

  Create game pyramids. For each woman, draw three identical triangles on an open file folder, making them as large as you can. Leave a band along the bottom to keep the triangles connected. Cut out the "mountain peaks" with Crayola Scissors. Fold under the outer edges of the two outside triangles to make tabs. Make sure the three sides fit together in a pyramid. Adjust if necessary. Lay your "peaks" flat.

• 4.

  Record information. Transfer your information to the triangles. Write the woman’s name and dates on one triangle, her achievements on another, and descriptive words on the third with Crayola Fine Line Markers. Color and illustrate each triangle with bright Crayola Twistables. Apply Crayola School Glue to the folded tabs. Bend the triangles around to form a standing pyramid. Air-dry the glue.

• 5.

  Quiz each other! Present the information on your pyramids to your classmates. Use demonstrations, pictures, recordings, or other materials to make your person memorable. Now comes the challenge! Mix up the pyramids, choose one (not your own), and form sma

Benefits

• Students gain an overview of international women’s achievements throughout history. 
• Students fabricate a 3-D representation of their findings and present the information to the class.
• Students in small groups test their growing knowledge about memorable women’s accomplishments.

Adaptations

• Integrate women’s achievements into the daily curriculum. Use this project throughout the year to add names of new women and their accomplishments.
• Color-code the pyramid bands to group women according to discipline, nationality, or century, for example. Calculate statistics such as areas where women dominate. In what careers are women missing or rare? Speculate on the reasons why.
• Develop a list of firsts and "nevers," such as there has never been a female United States president. How can you change history?
• Assessment: Ask students to choose three (or more) women and write descriptions about the accomplishments of each.