Hidden Figures

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. What does NASA stand for, and when was it established? What are NASA’s goals and objectives? What NASA missions, historically, are among the most well-known?

Teaching Suggestion: Depending on students’ background and interests, they may know detailed information about these questions, or they might proceed by making logical guesses. After attempting the questions independently, students might meet briefly in groups of 3-4 to compare their responses and share knowledge. In another approach to the question, readers might first brainstorm works of fiction or film that establish the topics of flight and space and that remind them of events in NASA’s history (e.g., The Right Stuff, Apollo 13, and From the Earth to the Moon). Some students may name more speculative space stories as they make familiar connections (such as Interstellar, The Martian, or Contact); consequently, this discussion provides a chance to categorize and clarify between the historical fiction genre, science fiction/fantasy, and nonfiction.

• Readers can find an overview of NASA’s work as well as in-depth details on current projects throughout