ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • SEPT. 2 - OCT. 3, 2018 A15

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CLASSROOM SPOTLIGHT SCIENCE STARS

AFRICAN AMERICAN SKIN CANCER SCIENTIST, Gateway MST RESEARCHER AND EDUCATOR: Elementary in the St. Louis Jewel Plummer Cobb Public Schools Jewel Plummer Cobb was born in District 5th Chicago, Illinois, on January 17, grade teacher 1924. Her father was a doctor and her mother was a physical Mrs. Forcha shows students Erniece Staples, education teacher. As a young Aliza Davis and Ta’Niyah child, Cobb was interested in Taylor how to power light how things worked. She would using an experiment found in often take apart items, such as the newspaper. Photo: Wiley an alarm clock, to put it together Price / St. Louis American again. In junior high, she began reading her father’s scientific Teachers, if you are using the St. Louis American’s NIE program and journals. In high school, she would like to nominate your class was an honor student and began for a Classroom Spotlight, please email: [email protected]. focusing on biology. In 1942, she began her college career at the , but left her sophomore year. She disagreed with the college’s policy to have all African-American students reside SCIENCE CORNER The Facts About Skin Cancer! in one house on campus. Cobb then completed her bachelor’s degree in biology at Talladega College in Alabama in 1947. Jewel Cobb was interested in learning all about skin. One of developing melanoma later in life. People at a greater Cobb applied for graduate school at (NYU), concern people have about their skin is controlling their risk for melanoma include those with light colored skin that but was first denied because of her race. Cobb didn’t let that risks of skin cancer. In this article, you’ll learn about types freckle easily, those with a large number of moles, and those rejection discourage her. She decided to visit the campus of skin cancer and how to protect your skin. with family members who have had melanoma. However, it is personally so she could impress the biology teachers, who then important to note that ANYONE can develop skin cancer, so There are three allowed her to stay. Cobb earned her master’s degree from NYU it is important to protect yourself. types of skin cancer: in 1947 and her PhD in 1950 in cell physiology. While still in melanoma, squamous The Skin Cancer Foundation reports that less than half of graduate school, she was named an independent investigator for cell, and basal cell. all teenagers use sunscreen. Using a waterproof sunscreen the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole, Massachusetts. Of these three, with a high SPF can help protect your skin. Also, wearing She also held fellowships at The Cancer Research Foundation of melanoma is the most a wide brimmed hat can shield the delicate skin on your Harlem Hospital, Columbia University College of Physicians and serious form because it can spread throughout the face. Limit the amount of time you spend in the sun, Surgeons, and the National Cancer Institute. body and be deadly. If caught early, it is curable. especially during times of the day when the sun is at its Cobb completed research at the University of Illinois and focused Squamous cell sometimes spreads through the strongest peak. Some people think that tanning beds are on skin cancer and the ability of melanin to protect skin. She body, but is rarely life threatening. Basal cell is safer than tanning in the sun; this is not true. Any time also studied how hormones, UV light, and chemotherapy drugs slow growing and rarely spreads throughout the your skin burns or tans, permanent damage has occurred. affected skin cells. From 1952 to 1954, she conducted the body. However, basal cell can be disfiguring, especially if Check your skin monthly, looking for new or changing moles Tissue Culture Laboratory there, as well. From 1956 to 1960, she it is on a noticeable area, such as the face. It can also come or growths. Share any concerns you find with your parents completed research at New York University and from 1960 to back after it is removed. and doctor. 1969, she completed research at . According to The Skin Cancer Foundation, one blistering Learning Standards: I can read a nonfiction article and In 1969, she began her work as Dean of Arts and Sciences sunburn in childhood more than doubles a person’s chance determine main idea and supporting detail. at Connecticut. From 1976 to 1981, she worked at . From there, she became president of California State SCIENCE INVESTIGATION Be a Touch Receptor! University, Fullerton, where she started medical and pre-dental programs for minorities and women in sciences. Jewel Plummer Cobb studied skin. In this r Gently press the points of the U on different In 1990, she began working with young children through the experiment, you will see how your skin functions points of your partner’s skin. Southern California and Engineering ACCESS Center and Network as a touch receptor, which means how your skin and the Science Technology Engineering Program (STEP). She t Ask your partner how many points they feel. responds to touch. also led ASCEND projects for the California State University, Try the forehead, the cheek, the inside of the which promoted careers in science, math, and engineering. In Materials Needed: A Paperclip • A Partner arm, the back, the leg calf. Are there any areas 1993, she earned the Lifetime Achievement Award for her work Process: where your partner feels only one point, even promoting science careers to children and minorities. though there are two? q Straighten the paperclip by unbending it. Learning Standards: I can read a biography to learn facts Learning Standards: I can follow directions to w Form the paperclip into the letter “u.” about a person who has made contributions to the fields of complete an experiment. I can make deductions from e science, technology, and mathematics. Ask your partner to close their eyes. my observations. MATH CONNECTION Solve these math word problems! MAP CORNER

Men and women with careers in STEM are effective problem sentence equation to represent the word Use the newspaper to solvers. Put your problem solving skills to work in the problem. ______complete the following following math word problems. ______= activities to prepare for the MAP test. q There are 416 students taking ______hamburgers a field trip to the local science e The life span of a swan is up to 50 years Activity One — museum. They are taking 8 buses in captivity. In the wild, a swan lives up to Natural Resources: Work on the field trip, with an equal 19 years. How much longer is the lifespan of in groups to find newspaper number of students riding each bus. Use the equation to a swan in captivity? ______years stories about shortages and surpluses of natural solve the problem. How many students will be on each bus? r A fence is 20 feet long. It has posts at each end and at resources. Discuss what you read, S = the number of students on the bus. 416 divided by every 4 feet along the length. How many fence posts are and then write your thoughts 8 = s ______students on each bus. there? ______posts about how such shortages and w Jane made 16 hamburgers. She sold five, but made 3 Learning Standards: surpluses occur and how they more. How many hamburgers does Jane have? Write a number I can add, subtract, multiply, and divide to solve a problem. affect the economy. Activity Two — Just one indoor tanning DID YOU KNOW? Government Stability: Find a newspaper session increases users’ story about a government using its power to chances of developing One minute in the average indoor melanoma by 20 percent, and maintain order and stability. Discuss the article. Evaluate the tanning machine is twice as cancer- each additional session during results of the government’s action and whether those results According causing (carcinogenic) as one minute the same year boosts the risk were intended. How might the government have acted to the Skin in the midday Mediterranean sun. almost another two percent. differently? People who first use a tanning bed Nearly 30 million Of melanoma cases among Learning Standards: Cancer before age 35 increase their risk for people tan indoors in 18-to-29-year-olds who had I can use a newspaper to locate information. I melanoma by 75 percent. On an average the U.S. every year. tanned indoors, 76 percent can identify shortages and surpluses in day, more than one million Americans Two to three million were attributable to tanning natural resources. I can evaluate the use tanning salons. of them are teens. bed use. use of government power in action. Content—Jennifer Wirthwein • Design—Beth Sharpe

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