Introduce students to the remarkable life and legal career of Ruth Bader Ginsburg through an engaging biography research activity designed for young learners.

Students will follow Ruth’s journey from her childhood in Brooklyn, New York, to her studies at Cornell University, Harvard Law School and Columbia Law School. They will discover how she graduated near the very top of her class but still faced barriers and discrimination as a woman entering the legal profession.

The resource explores how Ruth became a law professor and later helped launch the ACLU Women’s Rights Project, where she worked on important cases challenging laws that treated women and men differently. Students will learn how her legal work helped strengthen protections against gender discrimination in the United States.

The biography also follows Ruth’s career as a federal judge and her appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1993, where she became only the second woman to serve as a Supreme Court Justice. Students will discover important moments from her time on the Court, including her majority opinion in United States v. Virginia, which supported equal educational opportunities for women.

Students can use the included research pages to explore Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s childhood, education, legal career, challenges, important court cases, key dates and lasting legacy before recording their own findings and writing about what they have learned.

What’s included:

• Ruth Bader Ginsburg biography information pages
• Birthplace and important life facts
• Early life in Brooklyn
• Education at Cornell, Harvard and Columbia
• Challenges as a woman entering the legal profession
• Career as a law professor
• ACLU Women’s Rights Project
• Gender equality and civil rights advocacy
• U.S. Court of Appeals
• Appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court
• United States v. Virginia
• Important Supreme Court opinions and dissents
• Challenges and achievements
• Interesting facts
• Illustrated life timeline
• Legacy and famous words
• Guided research questions
• Note-taking and writing pages

This resource is ideal for biography studies, famous women, women in history, U.S. history, civil rights, women’s rights, government, law, citizenship, social studies, homeschool learning, classroom research projects and independent writing.

Students can develop reading comprehension, chronological thinking, research and informational writing skills while discovering how Ruth Bader Ginsburg used education, persistence and the law to challenge discrimination and expand equal rights.

File type: Printable PDF
Preparation: Print and use