Overview
Nicole Mann, First Native Woman in Space
- Author: Cheryl Tuttle (Yurok/Karuk) Educator and Cultural Preservationist
- Lesson Contributor/Editor/Format by Maggie Peters (Yurok/Karuk), NASMC Learning Specialists Humboldt County Office of Education
Grade: 3
Suggested Amount of Time: 60 minutes
Curriculum Themes:
- Cultural Strengths
- Relationship to Place
- Cross Curricular Integration
Learning Goals
- Describe Nicole Mann’s interests and achievements and how those prepare her to be an astronaut
- Tell why Nicole Mann is important to the Native community?
- Tell whether an astronaut has the attributes of a ‘hero.”
Lesson Overview
This lesson introduces students to Nicole Mann (Wailaki) a Round Valley Indian Tribal member from Northern California and the first Native American woman to travel to space. Through a guided Google Slides presentation, students learn about Nicole’s background, education, training, and accomplishments as a U.S. Marine Corps pilot, mechanical engineer, and NASA astronaut. The lesson highlights her bravery, determination, and the cultural pride she brings to her role.
Students will engage with essential vocabulary, explore Nicole’s life story, participate in structured Think-Pair-Share discussions, and reflect on what makes someone a hero. Visuals, maps, and videos help students connect with Nicole’s journey and consider how their own interests and strengths relate to hers.
To conclude the lesson, students will write a short reflection paragraph summarizing what they learned and explaining why Nicole Mann is considered a hero. This activity helps students develop writing and critical thinking skills while celebrating an inspiring Native American role model in STEM.
Teacher Background
When leading this lesson, it’s important to center respect, cultural awareness, and pride in the accomplishments of Native individuals—especially Native women who are often underrepresented in history and STEM education. Nicole Mann, a member of the Round Valley Indian Tribes and the first Native American woman in space, is a powerful example of resilience, leadership, and excellence. Her story allows students to see a contemporary Native woman as a hero—not only for her achievements as an astronaut and Marine Corps pilot, but also for the strength and responsibility she brings to her role.
Teachers should emphasize that Native cultures are living, diverse, and dynamic, and that uplifting Native voices in the classroom helps combat stereotypes and invisibility. As students learn about Nicole’s journey, guide discussions that highlight her identity, values, and service. This is an opportunity to broaden definitions of what a hero looks like and encourage all students—especially Native girls—to see themselves as capable of greatness.
Interactive Slides
About the Interactive Slides
A key component of this curriculum includes interactive slides and a lesson script/facilitation support. These materials are designed to support ease of implementation and help guide lesson delivery.
The interactive slides are animated to gradually reveal content and may include links to videos and audio playback buttons for Tribal language integration, songs, or slide facilitation.
In addition to the downloadable lesson and student handouts, this lesson comprised of 60 minutes, includes interactive slides and lesson script/ facilitation support.
Slides: Nicole Mann, First Native Woman in Space
*To ensure full accessibility, we recommend making a copy of the instructional material(s).
Instructions:
To use the slides effectively:
- Project the slides in "Slideshow Mode" to activate animations. Written content will appear with each click.
- Set speaker volume before beginning the lesson to ensure all students can hear audio content.
- Play audio by clicking the audio playback icons one at a time. There may be a brief pause while the audio loads.
- Hovering over an audio playback icon will reveal a playback bar that allows you to play, pause, adjust speed, or fast-forward the audio.
- Note: You do not need to use the playback bar unless you wish to adjust playback. Simply clicking the icon will play the audio.