Important
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
The acronym STEM stands for
What is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math?
At the beginning of the film, the ladies' car breaks down. They make it to work by...
Fixing the car themselves and then receiving an escort from a police officer.
What would you do if you were told that you could not pursue a career because of how you look or who you are?
Answers vary
The restrooms at NASA were initially segregated.
True.
Who are Mary, Katherine, and Dorothy?
The definition of the word computer as it is used in Hidden Figures refers to...
An individual who calculated the trajectory for safe and successful launches and landings.
Mary Jackson showed great perseverance as she tried to get the opportunity to earn her engineering degree. She had to go to court for what reason?
The classes were held at then-segregated Hampton High School, however, Mary needed special permission from the City of Hampton to join her white peers in the classroom.
What can you do to help others, especially other young people break barriers as Katherine, Mary, and Dorothy did?
Answers vary.
The film depicts discrimination on the basis of both race and gender.
True.
Hidden Figures, the film, was set in this year.
What is 1961?
What does the term trajectory mean and how does its meaning show the importance of the computers' work?
the path followed by a projectile flying or an object moving under the action of given forces.
"Virginia acts like Brown vs. the Board of Education never happened." What did Brown vs. the Board of Education determine?
The Supreme Court ruled that separating children in public schools on the basis of race was unconstitutional.
Dorothy Vaughan was a steadfast advocate for the women of West Computing, and even intervened on behalf of white computers in other groups who deserved promotions or pay raises How would you advocate for the rights and advancement of others?
Answers vary.
John Glenn personally asked that Katherine Johnson recheck the calculations for his flight.
True
Until segregated restrooms were eliminated, Katherine Johnson had to run this many mile(s) ROUND TRIP to use the bathroom on the NASA campus.
What is one mile? (0.5 miles in one direction)
NASA stands for
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
The movie briefly showed Katherine and her husband watching a news segment about the Freedom Riders. The Freedom Riders were...
Freedom Riders was a group of racially integrated civil rights activists who participated in Freedom Rides, bus trips through the American South in 1961 to protest segregated bus terminals.
Dorothy Vaughan stole a library book. Why did she do this and what would you do?
Answers vary;
Dorothy decided to learn FORTRAN (a computer programming language). She visited her local library, but the only book on FORTRAN was in the whites only section. Her only option was to steal the book. She did, and eventually taught herself the language, practicing her programming after hours on the IBM machine. She then taught her team.
John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth in this spacecraft which he named Friendship 9.
False. Friendship 7 is the correct answer.
The acronym, IBM, stands for...
International Business Machines
The film is titled, Hidden Figures. Why do you think that is?
It refers both to the women themselves, who were doing this work for many years and people didn't see them; and it refers to the mathematics conducted by the women.
Who authorized Katherine to attend the Pentagon briefings? Why was it important that she was in attendance?
Al Harrison; so that she did not have to recalculate or scrap her work when new information was available
Think about Paul Safford and his responses to his female coworkers; Katherine in particular. How would you approach someone like him?
Answers vary
Mr. Harrison knocked the colored restroom signage down randomly.
How many children did Katherine Johnson have?
3