← Hidden Figures

Two printed sides. Print double sided, or print the back separately.

Name: Period: Date:

Movie: Hidden Figures

Directed by Theodore Melfi | 20th Century Fox (2016) | Rated PG | 127 minutes

There are two sides to this worksheet. Do both sides!

Part 1: Watch and Learn (answer while watching)

Circle the best answer.

  1. Where do Katherine, Dorothy and Mary work, and what are their jobs called?

    • A) A school, as teachers
    • B) NASA's Langley center, as "computers" (people who do math by hand)
    • C) A bank, as clerks
    • D) A factory, as mechanics

  2. What is Katherine's new job when she joins the Space Task Group?

    • A) She does the geometry and math that figure out the flight paths
    • B) She flies the capsule
    • C) She types reports
    • D) She cleans the lab

  3. What does Mary do to be allowed to take the classes she needs to become an engineer?

    • A) She quits NASA
    • B) She asks a judge for permission to take classes at an all-white high school
    • C) She takes the classes in secret
    • D) She moves to another state

  4. What does Dorothy do when she finds out an IBM computer will replace the human computers?

    • A) She quits
    • B) She teaches herself and her team to program the machine
    • C) She asks NASA to ban it
    • D) She breaks it

  5. Before John Glenn's launch, what does Katherine do?

    • A) She checks the computer's landing numbers by hand
    • B) She builds the capsule
    • C) She rewrites the countdown
    • D) She flies a test plane

Part 2: Think About the Story

  1. Computers Before Computers: The women were called "computers" because they did the math by hand. What did that job involve? What happened to the job when the IBM machine arrived?

  2. Learning a New Machine: Dorothy learned programming on her own and taught her team before the machine took over. Why was that a smart move? What does it show about getting ready for change?

  3. Checking the Machine: Before the launch, the astronauts want a person to check the computer's numbers by hand. Why would anyone double-check a computer? When do you think we should trust a machine, and when should a person check it?

  4. Unfair Rules: Pick ONE unfair rule the women faced. Describe how a character responded to it (Mary's petition, Katherine's speech, or another). What can a person do when a rule is unfair?

  5. Personal Connection: Which character in the movie do you think you are most like and why? (Katherine, Dorothy, Mary, Al Harrison, Vivian Mitchell, Paul Stafford, Jim Johnson, or another character)