Don't push that button! Margaret Hamilton wrote the computer codes that saved Apollo 8 and Apollo 11 from various glitches, including an astronaut pushing the wrong button at the wrong time. The video describes her groundbreaking work and keen mind that is still solving problems today. 

Concepts

computer science, nasa, famous scientists, the moon, apollo 11, astronauts

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Additional Tags

science

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Instructional Ideas

• Research what Margaret Hamilton is currently working on
• Discover other computer scientists who worked on NASA projects

Classroom Considerations

• Comments section contains many things not appropriate for the classroom
• Video is the third in a 25-part series

• This video is hosted on YouTube

Pros

• Offers many cross-curricular connections to history, computer science, astronomy, and more
• Focuses on a female scientist, a rarity in her field
• Includes closed captioning, which can help hold pupils' attention

Cons

• None