Each year, Nobel Prizes in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, Peace and Economics are awarded to“those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind.”
In 2023, eleven laureates were awarded this distinctive prize. Their work and discoveries range from the groundbreaking findings behind the development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19 to the courageous fight for human rights, freedom, and democracy. During Nobel Week, December 6-12th, celebrations and events take place in Stockholm, Sweden and Oslo, Norway as well as digitally. Each year’s laureates give lectures describing the history and background of their discoveries, literature, or globally impactful work, and the annual Nobel Prize Concert is held to honor them all. An award ceremony on December 10th takes place, celebrating the laureates on the anniversary of the prize founder Alfred Nobel’s death.
The Nobel prizes were conceived of in 1895 by Alfred Nobel, aSwedish engineer, inventor, businessman, and philanthropist, when he signed his last will and testament, committing his vast fortune to establishing awards in an original five categories. It wasn’t until 1901 that these prizes were awarded to the first Nobel Laureates — a term inspired byAncient Greece, where laurel wreaths, or crowns made of branches and leaves, were bestowed on athletic and poetic victors as a sign of honor. In 1968, Sweden’s central bank, Sveriges Riksbank, established a sixth prize: The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel.
Bring the achievements of past Nobel Prize laureates to life with a selection of PBS LearningMedia videos, activities and lesson plans below. Ready-to-use Nobel Prize Lessons and animated games are also available for educators courtesy of the Nobel Prize’s Education Network.
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Nobel PrizeLaureates in Physics
Nobel Laureate George Smoot and the Origin of the Universe
Grades 6-12
George F. Smoot, a scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, shared the 2006 Nobel Prize in Physics with John C. Mather for their work on the early beginnings of the universe. In this video from QUEST produced by KQED, meet Dr. Smoot and learn about tools astronomers use to find information about the universe.
Einstein’s Big Idea
Grades 6-12
Over 100 years ago, Albert Einstein grappled with the implications of his revolutionary special theory of relativity and came to a startling conclusion: mass and energy are one, related by the formula E = mc2. In Einstein’s Big Idea, NOVA dramatizes the remarkable story behind this equation. E = mc2 was just one of several extraordinary breakthroughs that Einstein made in 1905, including the completion of his special theory of relativity, his identification of proof that atoms exist, and his explanation of the nature of light, which would win him the Nobel Prize in Physics.
Nobel PrizeLaureates in Chemistry
Marie Curie | Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum
Grades K-2
Learn about award winning scientist Marie Curie with this video clip, printable biosketch reader, and support materials from Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum. Take the learning even further with this printable Matching Game to help Marie Curie match the similar bottles!
Did You Know?
Marie Curie, alongside her husband Pierre, won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903 for their research on the radiation phenomena originally discovered by Professor Henri Becquerel. Marie was widowed in 1906, but continued her and Pierre’s work, going on to become the first person ever to be awarded two Nobel Prizes. This 1911 Nobel Award in Chemistry was for the discovery of the radioactive elements radium and polonium, and the study and documentation of their properties and compounds. Radioactive compounds became important as sources of radiation in both scientific experiments and in the field of medicine, where they are used to treat tumors.
Real Gases | Crash Course Chemistry
Grades 9-12
This Crash Course Chemistry video explains how the constants in the gas law aren’t all that constant. The ideal gas law has to be corrected for volume because atoms and molecules take up space and for pressure because they’re attracted to each other. Einstein was behind a lot more of what we know today than most people realize, but a Dutch scientist named Johannes van der Waals figured out those correction factors in the late 19th century and earned a Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his efforts in 1910.
Nobel PrizeLaureates inPhysiology or Medicine
Memory Hackers | How Memories Form
Grades 6-12
Learn how Dr. Eric Kandel, 2000 Nobel Prize Laureate in Physiology or Medicine, discovered the biological basis of memory formation, in this video from NOVA: Memory Hackers. To better understand how human memories form, Kandel turns to the giant sea slug, Aplysia californica. He first creates a long-lasting memory in the sea slug. Next, he reconstructs a single neural circuit using a sensory and motor neuron extracted from the slug. Kandel then uses the same memory formation technique used in the slug to create a memory within the neural circuit. As the memory forms, new synaptic connections begin to grow, revealing for the first time that memory involves anatomical changes in the brain. Using today’s imaging technology, Kandel describes how the process unfolds.
Carol Greider on Her 2009 Nobel Prize for Work on Chromosomes
Grades 6-12
Listen as Carol Greider discusses her 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, which was awarded jointly alongside Elizabeth H. Blackburn and Jack W. Szostak, for their work on chromosomes. Greider and Blackburn discovered the enzyme telomerase, which is what prevents our chromosomes from getting smaller and smaller.
Nobel PrizeLaureates in Literature
One Hundred Years of Solitude | The Great American Read
Grades 6-12
Author Gabriel García Márquez won the 1982 Nobel Prize in Literature for his novels and short stories, in which the fantastic and the realistic are combined in a richly composed world of imagination, reflecting a continent’s life and conflicts. In this video from The Great American Read, explore how García Márquez uses “magical realism” in his story of the fictional town of Macondo and the five generations of the Buendia family who inhabit it. The story is told in flashbacks and flash-forwards that fuse the fantastical with the everyday. The town and the Buendias survive wars, forbidden love affairs, and the invasion of foreigners and industrialization.
Toni Morrison | American Masters Collection
Grades 9-12
Toni Morrison is truly an American treasure, a writer all students should encounter and critically examine as part of their journey in understanding American identity. She was the author of 11 novels, recipient of both the Pulitzer Prize and the American Book Award, and winner of a Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993. Learn more about the author with the American Masters: Toni Morrison collection. Explore videos, activities, and discussion questions related to the film Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am, which presents her extraordinary life and artistry.
Nobel Peace PrizeLaureates
Theodore Roosevelt | Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum
Grades K-2
Learn about President Theodore Roosevelt with this printable biosketch reader and support materials from Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum. Use the associated graphic organizers to support comprehension, research, and assessment in the classroom and at home.
Did You Know?
Theodore Roosevelt is revered for his conflict resolution skills. In 1906 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his settling of the Portsmouth Treaty during the Russo-Japanese War over Manchuria and Korea. This made Roosevelt the first American to be awarded any Nobel Prize. Learn more about the Treaty of Portsmouth and Roosevelt’s role in global affairs of the time with the video “Theodore Roosevelt Wins the Nobel Peace Prize” from the Ken Burns in the Classroom collection (grades 6-12).
Wangari Maathai on Planting Trees and Protecting Forests
Grades 6-12
Listen as environmental conservationist and 2004 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Wangari Maathai, discusses sustainable approaches to tropical forest preservation. Maathai was recognized as the first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace. The grass-roots movement Maathai started, known as the Green Belt Movement, spread to African countries outside her homeland of Kenya and eventually contributed to the planting of over thirty million trees.
Nobel PrizeLaureates in Economic Sciences
Kenneth Arrow Asserts the Economy Is Built on Science
Grades 6-12
Hear Nobel laureate Kenneth Arrow, awardee of the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel in 1972, talk about the relationship between scientific innovation and economic progress. Students will recognize that the way we view science today is built upon the past centuries of discovery and growth and that our future depends on continuing to build upon current scientific knowledge.