Hidden Figures Movie Worksheet (2016, PG)

Description

Hidden Figures (2016) is an in-depth look at the struggles of a group of young African-American women mathematicians employed at NASA during the Space Race and Civil Rights era of the early 1960s. The theme of the movie is about growth and change on many levels, from the individual, to NASA, and American society in general. This film challenges the audience to see past stereotypes and social constructs to know the content of one’s character before passing a judgment on their innate worth. This movie guide consists of 26 higher-order thinking questions, intended to stimulate classroom discussion on social equality, stereotypes, and the dangerous pitfalls of preconceptions. The movie does relate to the science and mathematics of space flight, although the questions on the video guide are societal in nature. There are no questions based on the scientific underpinnings of the content presented. Having said that, there are many cross-cutting concepts, however, that would definitely make this a great showing for a physics or astronomy class. A modern history or psychology class would also benefit tremendously from the viewing this film. Issues discussed include racism, sexism, racial profiling, stereotypes, social justice, equality, the civil rights movement, civil liberties, segregation, social status, and ethnocentrism.
The runtime is 120 minutes. The movie guide is designed to last three days, with each segment lasting 40 minutes, allowing for time to answer the questions and have a class discussion based on events of the movie.

racism, sexism, racial profiling, stereotypes, social justice, equality, the civil rights movement, civil liberties, segregation, social status, ethnocentrism, the space race, sputnik, john glenn, yuri gagarin, friendship 7