Lesson Plan: The Cold War and the Nuclear Weapons Threat

Subjects:

• This lesson likely fits best in a U.S. History course.

Grade Level:

9-12

Lesson Duration:

• 1 class period

Essential Questions:

• Has the ending of the Cold War reduced the threat of nuclear destruction?
• Why did the USSR and US build and deploy so many nuclear weapons?

Lesson Objectives:

Students will be able to:

• Analyze charts/graphs/images about nuclear weapons.
• Explain how nuclear proliferation was part of the Cold War.
• Analyze the risk that nuclear weapons pose for the world today.

Materials:

• Retro Report Video “Why the Cold War Race for Nuclear Weapons is Still a Threat” (Transcript)
• Student Activity handout

Procedure:

1. Students should be familiar with the concept of the Cold War and have a sense of the relationship between the U.S.S.R./U.S.A. after WWII.
2. Show students the essential question at the beginning of the lesson, after the video, and before they write their answer to the essential question at the end to make sure they see how the images, graphs/charts, and video relate to the question.
3. Share stories you may have from your upbringing that relate to the Cold War or what was something in the world that scared you as a child for students to understand how frightening this time was for people.
4. Depending on how much writing you have done with students, consider a graphic organizer to help them organize their answers/evidence for the essential question.
5. Have students read over the essential question. Next, have them look at the images about duck and cover, fallout shelters, the political cartoon, and answer the prompts.
6. If in a classroom setting, have them discuss their answers to the prompts.
7. Check that students understand the essential question and see if they have other questions before moving on to the video.

Assessing the Lesson:

Formative: Informal assessment can be done during the activity checking student answers and discussions on their answers to the video questions and analysis of the charts/graphs.

Summative: The essay students write should:

• Include three different pieces of evidence from the video/graphs/charts that support their stance.

• Explain how each piece of evidence supports their stance
  Ex. One reason that the world is not safer from the threat of nuclear wars since the end of the Cold War is that instead of two countries with nuclear weapons, there are now nine. Those nine countries do not have a system where they communicate to make sure no accidental war occurs.

Extension Activity:

The following activity can be done as an in-class assignment or assigned as a separate project.

• Research how nuclear materials and weapons could be acquired and used by extremist groups and pose a threat to the U.S. and the world.
• Analyze which of the countries that have nuclear weapons are most likely to use them and why. What might trigger a nuclear attack on another country?

About the Author:

Bill Bauman has taught Social Studies for 26 years in several districts in the Minneapolis area. He has also been a Social Studies content lead, staff development assessment specialist and instructional coach.

Standards

Common Core Standards:

• CCSS.ELA.LITERACY.RH.11-12.7: Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media (e.g., visually, quantitatively, as well as in words) in order to address a question or solve a problem.
• CCSS.ELA.LITERACY.RI.11-12.3: Analyze a complex set of ideas or sequences of events and explain how specific individuals, ideas, or events interact or develop over the course of a text.

C-3 Framework Standards for Social Studies:

• D2.His.1.9-12. Evaluate how historical events and developments were shaped by unique circumstances of time and place as well as broader historical contexts.
• D2.His.5.9-12. Analyze how historical contexts shaped and continue to shape people’s perspectives.
• D2.His.15.6-8. Evaluate the relative influence of various causes of events and developments in the past.