Girls Think of Everything: Stories of Ingenious Inventions by Women (link to book)
By Catherine Thimmesh and Melissa Sweet
This fabulous little book is well written and full of enticing stories. Each little segment, is full of critical information that illustrates how so many women have helped to change the world, for the better. Share this book with students to help with construct powerful and important ideas about gender, science, creativity, and problem solving. These stories illustrate how women used scientific reasoning to discover and create wonderful inventions (TEK connection: A. 3 all grades). These short biographies are worth sharing!
Here is a little snippet to entice you and your students to pick up this book!
“In the beginning. . .
With a push you are free–bursting into the world scrunched up and screaming. ‘It’s a girl!’ the doctor announces. Or ‘It’s a boy! And so your life began. And with those very first breaths, and in those very first moments, your health and well-being were evaluated through the eyes of an ingenious inventor: Dr. Virgina Apgar. Dr. Apgar developed the Newborn Scoring System–or Apgar Score–to measure five crucial aspects of a baby’s health:color, pulse, reflexes, activity, and respiration. She recognized the urgency of identifying the those newborns in need of emergency attention, and because of her innovation, hundreds of thousands of lives have been saved (p4).”
“The horses were tired; they were hungry. Time to grab a bite on the journey from Boston to New Bedford: a little hay, maybe some oats. After all, the busy Toll House on Route 18 in Whitman Massachusetts, was a rest stop for horses. But in time, that would change. Hay and oats would give way to salads and soups and chicken in white house. And as luck would have it, chocolate chip cookies.
It was an accident. A simple mistake. A last minute effort to save time. A just-toss-it-in-and-it-will-work-out sot of gesture that led to Ruth Wakefield’s creation of the crunchy, chewy, oh-so-delicious chocolate chip cookie. (p.8)”
Special thanks to Mrs. Meads, a fabulous seventh grade teacher, who shared the idea of snippets with me!