If I do not get this I will fail 2020-2021 ELA Grade 5 Periodic Assessment #5 2 of 82 of 8 Items

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A Remarkable Scientist

1 During World War I in France (1914–1918), many soldiers died because they did not get good medical care. Doctors at the time did not know about many procedures and medicines that could have saved lives. It was also very hard to get the best medical equipment to the areas where soldiers were wounded. However, that situation began to change. A brand-new medical technique called the X ray was invented, and a scientist was able to bring the invention to the battlefield. Today, the X ray is still the primary tool that doctors use to find broken bones and other health problems.

2 Marie Curie was 47 years old at the time. She was a famous scientist who had been sent away from Paris for her own protection during the war. But she realized that the research she was doing at the time could help save lives—and she kept at it.

3 First, she persuaded some automakers to turn some cars into vans so she could carry X ray equipment in them. They agreed. Then she trained her 17-year-old daughter Irene to use the new equipment and brought her along. They lived the hard life of soldiers near the fighting and trained others to do the same work.

4 Their X ray vans were easy to recognize and decorated with a red cross. The vans were so familiar to soldiers that they began to call them petites Curies, or “little Curies.” By the end of the war, Marie and her daughter had developed over 200 X ray units. They had supervised over a million X rays.

Helping an Adopted Country

5 One thing that made her work so special to the people of France was that Marie Curie had been born and raised in the city of Warsaw in Poland. Her parents were teachers, and she had been an outstanding student her entire life. Much of Poland was controlled by Russia at the time, and she and her father supported a movement to free the country from Russia. She soon realized that to get a full education in the sciences, she would have to leave her home country. Poland at the time did not admit female students to institutes of higher learning.

6 First, Marie worked to support her older sister, who moved to Paris to get medical training. Then her sister did the same for Marie when Marie came to study physics in Paris in 1891. Marie had just enough money to pay for college, a tiny attic apartment, and very little food. Even though she was often sick during this period, she completed her work in only three years.

7 Because Marie was a top student, she got a scholarship to continue her work. Soon after that, the world sat up and took notice. In 1894, Marie began to do research in a small lab run by Pierre Curie. They married the next year and began to work together on research. Marie persuaded Pierre to help her finish the work required to get the highest degree in physics. She became the first woman in the world to earn a doctor’s degree in science.

Rising Stars

8 Once Marie and Pierre married, their work grew and their fame took off. Marie convinced Pierre they should work on a new discovery by German and French scientists. They had discovered that some substances gave off rays that could pass through wood or human skin. Marie was the first to call this radioactivity.

9 Soon, the Curies discovered a new element that was radioactive. Marie named it polonium to honor the country of Poland where she grew up. After discovering another new radioactive element, they were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903. The Nobel Prize is the highest award in the world for scientific discoveries. Pierre was given a good teaching job at the best college in France. Marie was able to do research in a good laboratory. They had two daughters, and Pierre’s father helped care for them.

A Sudden Turn

10 In 1906, Pierre Curie stepped off a curb on a rainy night in Paris directly in front of a wagon pulled by horses. He was immediately trampled to death. Not long afterward, Pierre’s father became sick and died also.

11 Marie’s world was suddenly turned upside down, but she continued her work. She was so successful that she was awarded a second Nobel Prize, this time in chemistry. She was the first person to receive two Nobel Prizes. She is still the only person in history to receive them in two different sciences.

Deadly Effects

12 The Curies’ research paved the way for many later discoveries. But what the Curies did not realize at the time was that radioactive substances can be very harmful. They handled radioactive materials without any protection.

13 The materials were fascinating. They gave off a faint, blue glow and were actually warm to the touch. Marie Curie was exposed to their harmful rays for many years before people realized their danger. Because she absorbed so much radioactivity, even the objects around her were affected. Today, her cookbook has to be stored in a protective case so that people are not harmed by the radio