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Black Biologists: Excellence Against Every Barrier

Lesson Plan: Black Biologists Who Shaped American Science

Lesson Title

Black Biologists: Pioneers of Discovery, Excellence, and Scientific Leadership

Thesis Statement

Black biologists have shaped the foundations of American science—from cell biology to ecology—despite exclusion from laboratories, universities, and scientific institutions. Their achievements prove that Black excellence is not an exception but a tradition.

Learning Objectives

1. Students will identify major contributions of Black biologists across different scientific fields (cell biology, botany, zoology, ecology, neuroscience).

o Example: Students explain Ernest Everett Just’s breakthroughs in cell fertilization.

2. Students will analyze how systemic barriers shaped the careers of early Black scientists and how they still achieved excellence.

o Example: Students compare Roger Arliner Young’s challenges in graduate school with modern STEM barriers.

Learning Outcomes

1. Students will create a chronological timeline showing at least five Black biologists and their scientific contributions.

o Example: Students place Just (1910s), Turner (1920s), Young (1930s), and modern scientists like Angeline Dukes (2020s).

2. Students will write a short reflection on how one biologist’s journey inspires their own academic or career goals.

o Example: A student connects Dr. Warren Washington’s climate modeling to their interest in environmental justice.

5E Learning Model

Engage

Show students photos of early 1900s labs and ask: “Who was allowed to do science in these rooms—and who wasn’t?”

Explore

Students rotate through stations with short bios of Black biologists and identify each scientist’s field and discovery.

Explain

Facilitate a discussion on how these scientists advanced biology despite segregation, underfunding, and exclusion.

Elaborate

Students connect each biologist’s work to a modern scientific issue (climate change, genetics, neuroscience, ecology).

Evaluate

Students complete a formative assessment (below).

Assessment Tool (Formative)

Exit Ticket: Students answer in 3–4 sentences:

• “Which Black biologist stood out to you and why? How does their work connect to science today?”

Mr. Lucky — Social Studies Teacher, currently completing my second master’s degree in Urban Education