The first woman to win a Nobel Prize. The first woman to earn a PhD in physics in France. The first person ever to be awarded two Nobel Prizes. Marie Curie's list of firsts could go on and on, and her achievements changed the way we understand matter at a fundamental level. While her first Nobel Prize in physics was one awarded jointly to Curie, her husband Pierre, and Antoine Henri Becquerel for their work on radiation in 1903, her second in chemistry was entirely her own and recognized her discovery of radium and polonium (the latter named for her home country, Poland). Curie faced countless challenges - we're all familiar with the stories that emphasize she "assisted" her husband with the work for the 1903 Nobel Prize although he repeatedly insisted that the opposite was the case - yet she persisted, working in her laboratory until her death in 1934 and paving the way for generations of women in STEM.
Here's what you'll need to dress up as Marie Curie for Halloween!
- White shirt with high neck: Amazon Link
- Long black skirt: Amazon Link
- Brown wig with a bun: Amazon Link
Marie was never far from her lab, and while radium doesn't glow quite this green without some help from other elements, have fun with it and make your own glow-in-the-dark liquid with this awesome project from Sciencing! Put it in this Erlenmayer flask from Amazon to keep it authentic looking!
For your trick-or-treat bag, paint the symbol for radium - which Curie won a Nobel Prize for discovering - from the periodic table! You can purchase a canvas bag to paint at Amazon.
Can’t wait to learn even more about Marie? Check out Marie Isabel Sanchez Vegara’s illustrated biography Marie Curie (published in 2017). Our read along of this amazing book is available on Rosie Riveters' YouTube!
