Black STEM Heroes expands what students typically learn in school at a time when meaningful Black history content is being reduced or limited in many places. Students often learn only a small set of names, but rarely meet scientists and innovators like Dr. Patricia Bath, Dr. Daniel Hale Williams, Garrett Morgan, and Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett—people whose work shaped medicine, public safety, technology, and public health.
In our STEMcx Saturday Academies, students watch age-appropriate videos about each scientist, build personal home libraries with companion books, answer questions about their lives and discoveries, and complete hands-on activities like DIY eye models, COVID virus modules, insect investigations, and building their own traffic lights. These experiences show students that STEM is active, creative, community-focused—and that they belong in it.
STEMcx is now developing this program into a full curriculum package with related books, videos, and teacher materials. We will have a middle school and elementary school version.
STEMcx Black Heroes Core:
- Charles Henry Turner – Observation, experimentation, and behavioral science
- George Washington Carver – Agricultural systems, sustainability, and environmental science
- Madam C.J. Walker – Iterative testing, constraints, and product design
- Dr. Patricia Bath – Medical technology, ethics, and access to care
- Garrett Morgan – Engineering design, systems thinking, and public safety
(Optional Add-On Units)
EXPANSION UNIT A: LIFE, HEALTH & MEDICINE: Focused on how engineers design, build, test, and improve technologies.
- James West
Sound engineering, technology improvement
- Lonnie Johnson
Mechanical engineering, prototyping, iteration
- Ayanna Howard
Robotics, artificial intelligence, human-centered design
EXPANSION UNIT B: ENGINEERING & INVENTION: Explores how science and engineering improve human health.
- Daniel Hale Williams
Human body systems, medical innovation
- Kizzmekia Corbett
Public health, vaccines, research science
EXPANSION UNIT C: SCIENCE, SPACE & SYSTEMS: Highlights systems thinking, data, and large-scale scientific collaboration.
- Benjamin Banneker
Astronomy, measurement, data analysis
- Bessie Coleman
Flight, physics, perseverance in STEM
- Hidden Figures (Group Lesson)
Data analysis, teamwork, systems engineering
Instructional Note:
Hidden Figures is intentionally taught as a group to emphasize collaboration and systems-level problem solving rather than individual biography.