Historica Canada Education Portal

This lesson is based on viewing the Heritage Minute: "Lucille Teasdale." Teasdale was one of Canada's first female surgeons. For thirty-five years she operated a medical clinic in Uganda, where she personally treated over 13,000 patients.

Students will focus on the life and work of Lucille Teasdale as they create a timeline of important Canadian women in the twentieth Century.

Students will build upon their understanding of Lucille Teasdale's life and work to produce a series of Heritage Minutes about other significant women in Canadian history.

1. Students will watch the Heritage Minute “Lucille Teasdale,” and record significant information in their notebooks/logs (Where, When, Who is involved, What is happening).

After this initial viewing, ask students what the Minute is about; who Lucille Teasdale was, what sacrifices she made, what country she was living in, etc. Have the students work in pairs to combine the information they have gathered for their notes/logs.

2. Discuss the status of women in today’s society, and question whether men and women are considered ‘equal’ today.

Have students work in groups of three or four researching the major milestones women achieved in the 1900s. They should research the early suffrage movement, and the women's equality movement of the 1960s. Students should work together to create a “Women’s Timeline” that outlines the feats of Canadian women (including Teasdale) from 1900 to the present.

Students should be able to identify the sacrifices the women on their timeline made, and the obstacles they had to overcome to achieve their goals. They should outline both the goals and obstacles on their timeline. Their timeline should include dates, pictures (where possible), quotations, and a brief synopsis of each date/person on the timeline.

When students are finished their timelines, have students present their timelines to the class to ensure all topics have been addressed. The timelines can also be displayed around the classroom.

3. Have students do a presentation, or write a report about the political unrest in Uganda (where Teasdale worked).

4. Have students work in groups of 3 or 4 to create their own Heritage Minutes for significant Canadian women in history. They should not profile individuals who have already been profiled in the Heritage Minutes series.

Have students prepare scripts for their Heritage Minutes. Depending on your school's resources, students could videotape their Minutes. 

Advise students to use appropriate language for the time period they are representing, as well as costumes, props, etc. Students should use the Teasdale Minute as a guide, and if time permits, they could watch other Minutes to model the format.

A possible adaptation for students who would not be comfortable performing would be for them to merely hand in a script, but advise them to make it longer since they will not have to work on the presentation.