This is a biographical/informational text and assessment on Jonas Salk, the pioneering scientist who ended the scourge of polio afflicting the world in the 1950s with his polio vaccine. It focuses in on the main events of his life in chronological order as well as his work developing an innovative approach to ending the polio crisis that crippled thousands of children every year. It is written for Grade 5-8 students and can be used in a number of ways by teachers (close reading, direct instructi