11/11/2026

Morning Announcements

Morning Meeting Agenda

Mon · Social Studies Tue · Literacy Wed · Science Thu · Math Fri · ROAR + Houses
Today is Veterans Day — we honor all who served.
Science of the Day

Science that saves lives

On Veterans Day we honor people who served — and many served as scientists and doctors. Some of their discoveries still save lives in hospitals every single day.

Portrait of Dr. Charles Drew

Meet Dr. Charles Drew! He was a Black American doctor and scientist. He figured out how to save blood so it could help sick and hurt people later. His idea still helps people today!

Your blood carries food and air all around inside your body. When someone is hurt, doctors can give them blood from a kind person who shared theirs.

1. Someone gives 2. We keep it safe 3. It helps someone

How sharing blood saves lives!

Let’s talk
  • Have you ever had a scrape or a cut? What color was your blood?
  • Dr. Drew helped people he never even met. How can YOU help someone you don’t know?
  • What other jobs help people who are hurt or sick?
Reveal a body factHide the fact
Your heart pumps blood all through your body about every minute! Put your hand on your chest — can you feel it working right now?
Try it

Feel your heartbeat! Put your hand on your chest and stay very still. Now jump ten times and feel it again — faster! That’s your heart moving blood to help you.

Mystery scientist: He discovered how to separate and store blood plasma, which lasts far longer than whole blood. His system supplied wounded soldiers in World War II and became the model for every blood bank in the world.

Who is he?Hide
Portrait of Dr. Charles Drew
Dr. Charles Drew — a Black American surgeon and researcher who led the “Blood for Britain” program and directed the first American Red Cross blood bank. When the military ordered that blood from Black donors be stored separately, he objected publicly — there is no scientific difference — and resigned his position over it. Photo: National Archives (public domain)
Wartime science we still use today Blood banks Storing plasma saves lives in every hospital Penicillin Mass-produced in WWII — the first real antibiotic Ambulances Fast field medics became modern emergency care

Discoveries born in hard times, still helping us now.

Let’s talk
  • Dr. Drew’s own blood would have been segregated under that rule. Why did he speak up even though it cost him his job?
  • There is no scientific difference between the blood of people of different races. What does that tell you about that rule?
  • Why do you think urgent problems sometimes speed up scientific discovery?
Reveal the answersHide the answers
Drew argued the policy had no basis in science — it came from prejudice, not evidence. Blood is matched by type (A, B, AB, O), not by race. The military eventually dropped the policy. And urgent problems accelerate science because they focus enormous resources and cooperation on one question — though the discoveries then belong to everyone, forever.
Try it

With a partner: name a problem in the world right now that you think science should be racing to solve. What would it take — money, people, cooperation? Who would have to work together?

Additional Notes/Activities

If additional activities are needed for the Morning Meeting, they will be added here.