Wednesday, March 8, 2017

STEM Trailblazer Bios & International Women's Day: Computer Engineer Ruchi Sanghvi (ages 8-11)

This week across Berkeley, we're celebrating both International Women's Day and College & Career Awareness Week. I'm excited to share the STEM Trailblazer Bios series, an excellent collection of biographies featuring accomplished, young figures in a wide variety of science careers. My students were fascinated today as they listened to the biography of Ruchi Sanghvi, the first female engineer at Facebook.
Computer Engineer: Ruchi Sanghvi
STEM Trailblazer Bios series
by Laura Hamilton Waxman
Lerner, 2015
preview on Google Books
Amazon / Your local library
ages 8-11
Ruchi Sanghvi is an accomplished computer engineer who was one of the early engineers at Facebook, joining it when it was still a small Silicon Valley startup company. This engaging, short biography describes how she decided to move from India to the United States to study computer engineering, taking risks and never letting fear stop her.

We began by watching this short video, giving students a sense of how young and relatable Ruchi is. I especially like how she talks about moving from India to the United States to pursue her education and career.

My students talked about all that Ruchi accomplished: going to college, getting a job at Facebook, and then designing features that helped Facebook reach so many people. They also talked about how brave and determined she must be. In college, she was one of only five women in the engineering department. She left home and traveled far away. She took risks, leaving a steady job to join a start-up company.

This short biography was clearly written for 3rd through 5th graders. Chapter and section headings help young readers keep focused on the main ideas, while a variety of pictures keep their attention and interest. I especially liked the many quotes from Ruchi that help us hear her own thinking and perspective.

Check out these other STEM Trailblazer books, available in both paperback and hardcover:
The review copy came from our school library. If you make a purchase using the Amazon links on this site, a small portion goes to Great Kid Books. Thank you for your support.

©2017 Mary Ann Scheuer, Great Kid Books
at

1 comment: