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1869-1969-2069 Paper Explorer Series

By Educational Resources

What do YOU think it takes to be an explorer? Where do YOU want to go? Down an unmapped canyon? To the South Pole? To the moon or to Mars? Have fun exploring! You can start today by taking a Paper Explorer on an adventure in your neighborhood, in front of a fun photo or map, or on vacation!

 

Video Transcript
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
Who doesn't remember Flat Stanley? Well, now you can have a whole new adventure with Paper Powell! if you're a teacher or a parent, this is a fun activity to do with your kids! Heck, even adults can have fun with this one! It's been 150 years since John Wesley Powell traveled from Wyoming to the Grand Canyon...now it's your turn to take him on a new adventure! Print out the Paper Powell, color it, and hashtag #powell150 for a chance to be featured!Scott Horvath, USGS

 

Instructions: 

  • Download, print, and color a Paper Explorer and use scissors to cut out the figure. For a sturdier Paper Explorer, use glue or tape to attach your sheet to a thin piece of spare cardboard, such as an old cereal box. 
  • Take your Paper Explorer on an adventure and photograph the places he or she goes. 
  • Please tag us on Instagram @USGS_YES and use #paperexplorer, or email a JPEG to us at USGS_YES@usgs.gov. By doing so, you are granting us permission to use your photo in educational materials, in accordance with our policy at www.usgs.gov/social. 
  • Optional: After your Paper Explorer has been on adventures with you, send him or her on adventures with a friend or relative.  Or, ask your parents for a stamp and send your Paper Explorer to: U.S. Geological Survey, Youth & Education in Science (YES) Program Mail Stop 911, 12201 Sunrise Valley Drive, Reston, VA 20192 and your Paper Explorer may get to be part of our educational materials and web site! Submissions will not be returned. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1869 Paper Explorer - John Wesley Powell  

  • John Wesley Powell was born on March 24, 1834 in Mount Morris, New York.
  • As a child, he enjoyed collecting fossils and learning all about nature.
  • His family moved around a lot, and he spent much of his time helping with family duties.
  • He was a mostly self-taught geologist and began teaching other students when he was still a teenager. He never graduated from college.
  • He enlisted in the military and lost his right arm at the elbow due to an injury sustained in the Civil War's Battle of Shiloh (1862).
  • In 1869, he led an historic journey down ~1000 miles of the Green and Colorado Rivers, documenting the science and the people he met along the way.
  • He helped found the USGS, was its second director from 1881-1894, the first director of the Smithsonian Institution's Bureau of Ethnology, and held many other posts.
  • He died on September 23, 1902. 

1969 Paper Explorer - Neil Armstrong

  • Neil Armstrong was born on August 5, 1930 in Ohio.
  • As a young boy, he loved planes and was an Eagle Scout.
  • He earned his bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from Perdue University and his master’s degree in aeronautical engineering from the University of Southern California.
  • He was a Navy pilot for three years, then worked as a test pilot and helped to design planes.
  • He was selected to become an astronaut and flew on the Gemini 8 and Apollo 11 missions.
  • He was the first human to walk on the moon! His first words were, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
  • Later, he went on to be a college professor, researcher and a businessman.
  • Neil Armstrong died on August 12, 2012.

1969 Paper Explorer – Dorothy Vaughan

  • Dorothy Vaughan was born on September 20, 1910 in Kansas City, Missouri.
  • As a young girl, she loved math and was a high school math teacher in Virginia.
  • She was a mathematician before calculators and computers were invented, and was an expert programmer.
  • She was the head of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics’ (NACA was a precursor to NASA) and led the segregated West Area Computing Unit and was NASA’s first African-American manager.
  • She was known as a “human computer” and Neil Armstrong probably would not have landed safely on the moon if not for her work.
  • She worked with other well-known female mathematicians such as Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, Eunice Smith and Kathryn Peddrew and advocated for the women of the West Area Computing Unit.
  • She was portrayed by actress Octavia Spencer in the movie Hidden Figures and died on November 10, 2008.

2069 Paper Explorer - Anyone and everyone!

  • Who will be the great explorers of 2069?
  • Where will they travel and what skills will they need?
  • What tools and equipment will they need to take with them?