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Hidden Figures Movie Activity
Submitted by: Ryan N.
Recommended Grade Level(s):
Appropriate for: All Grade Levels (Movie Rated-PG)
Time Requirements:
Activity Time: 1–2 class periods
Teaching Topics & Concepts:
• Social Studies
• Language Arts
• Geometry
• Physics
• Programming
• Film Literacy
• History
• Career Readiness
Background:
Introduce International Day of Women and Girls in Science (February 11) and Women's History Month (February).
"Hidden Figures" is the story of three black women who contributed significantly to the U.S. Space program. Mathematics is at the
heart of Hidden Figures. Mathematics supports the aspirations of the three principal characters and the space mission's success.
Calculating orbits and the ability to manage extremely large numbers were essential to their research jobs.
From the 1930s to the arrival of the digital computer in the early 1960s, the federal government hired several hundred female
"human computers." Their job was calculating numbers and solving the equations needed for new generations of airplanes, the
first American rockets, and the first U.S. space flights. They accomplished their work using pen, paper, and analog calculating
machines. The need for these highly skilled workers was so great that even in those days of rampant racial discrimination, they
also hired qualified black women. The "human computers" reported to the Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, operated
by the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (NACA) (now the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)).
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