Katherine Johnson and the Math That Reached the Moon
Discover how mathematics, problem-solving, and determination can help take an idea from Earth all the way into space.
How Far Can Math Take You? 🚀
What if the numbers you calculate today could help a spacecraft travel hundreds of thousands of miles tomorrow?
In Katherine Johnson and the Math That Reached the Moon, Wesleigh, Waylen, and Waverly discover that mathematics isn't just something that lives in a textbook.
Math can help us measure, predict, navigate, design, and explore.
🧮 Meet Katherine Johnson
Katherine Johnson used her extraordinary mathematical abilities as part of America's space program.
Her work included calculating and analyzing the paths spacecraft would travel—connecting mathematics on Earth with missions beyond it.
Her story gives young adventurers an opportunity to see mathematics as a powerful tool for solving real-world problems.
A number can represent a distance. An equation can help describe a path. A calculation can help us predict where something will go.
Mathematics becomes one of the tools scientists and engineers use to tackle enormous challenges—including the challenge of traveling beyond Earth.
🌙 From a Math Problem to a Moon Mission
Those aren't just space questions. They're STEM questions. And mathematics helps us search for the answers.
🚀 There's STEM in the Journey!
Katherine Johnson's story reminds us that solving a difficult problem often means breaking it into smaller pieces, checking our work, learning from mistakes, and continuing until the numbers make sense.
That's a useful strategy whether you're solving today's math problem—or helping figure out how to reach the Moon.
🚀 Your Mission Is Coming...
In our hands-on STEM challenge, you'll explore rocketry by building and launching your own straw rocket. You'll get to think about design, distance, trajectory, testing, and what happens when you make changes and try again.
The Moon may be a little too far for our straw rockets—but every great mission has to start somewhere!
After watching Katherine Johnson and the Math That Reached the Moon, your mission continues.
Sing along with the STEMBop, go Beyond the Episode on a real-world adventure, listen to the podcast, explore our recommended book, and then become the mathematician and engineer yourself with a hands-on STEM challenge.
One Episode. Six Ways to Keep the Adventure Going.
Explore every part of the Katherine Johnson adventure.
Choose your next mission below. Calculate. Create. Test. Explore. And discover just how far mathematics can take you. 🚀🌙
Now It's Your Turn! 🚀
You've watched Katherine Johnson and the Math That Reached the Moon, explored the music and real-world adventure, and continued Katherine's story through Counting on Katherine.
You've seen how mathematics can help us measure, predict, navigate, and explore. Now it's time to move from calculating the mission to launching one of your own.
🚀 Build a Balloon Rocket
Use a balloon, straw, string, and tape to build a simple rocket system. Inflate the balloon, attach it to the straw, point the opening backward, and get ready for launch. When the air rushes out one way, your balloon rocket moves the other way.
The Science Behind the Launch
The balloon is filled with compressed air. When that air rushes out the back, a reaction force pushes the balloon forward along the string. That push is called thrust, and it connects to Newton's Third Law of Motion.
🔬 Think Like a Rocket Scientist
Don't stop after one launch. Change one thing and test again. Try a bigger or smaller balloon, a longer or shorter string, or more or less air. Then compare your results: Which rocket traveled fastest? Which traveled farthest?
Katherine Johnson showed us how mathematics can help chart a path through space.
Now it's time to see where your rocket goes!