Part of the National Women's History Project funded to promote the study of women in history, this unit will help first grade students learn about women's contributions to U.S. society. Equity cannot be achieved until equality is expected and until the contributions of all women are understood and accepted as a simple matter of fact. The unit contains six lessons based on biographies of women, past and present. The women were selected to represent the many ways women work outside the home. Their occupations range from medicine to athletics to photography. The women are Susan LaFlesche, Mary McLeod Bethune, Rachel Carson, Chien-Shiung Wu, and Nancy Lopez, representing major ethnic groups, and Dorothea Lange, representing disabled Americans. The lessons also help students explore the concept of work. Each unit begins with a biography that teachers are to read to students. Discussion questions. suggestions for classroom activities, and a student worksheet follow each biography. Examples of activities include having students draw pictures, write their own books, play games, and conduct science experiments. A bibliography of additional resource materials concludes the unit. (RM)