Lesson Plan 4: Pairing a primary & a secondary source
times past pages 18-21
Lexile level: 1280L
Lower Lexile level (available online): 1080L
The
Atom Bomb
On the 70th anniversary of the nuclear
attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki,
Times Past explores what led the U.S.
to drop the atom bombs and why that
decision is still controversial today.
Additional
Resources
www.upfrontmagazine.com
Before Reading
1
List Vocabulary: Share with students
the challenging general and domain-specific
vocabulary for this article. Encourage them to use
context to infer meanings as they read and to later
verify those inferences by consulting a dictionary.
Distribute or project the Word Watch activity
to guide students through this process, if desired.
2
arsenals
embroiled
heeded
monopoly
proliferation
sanctions
Print or project:
• Word Watch (vocabulary)
• ‘New Means of Destruction’ (also on
p. 13 of this Teacher’s Guide)
• Article Quiz (also on p. 10 of this
Teacher’s Guide)
• Analyze the Photo (also on p. 14 of
this Teacher’s Guide)
Video:
Engage: Watch the video on the
The Manhattan Project
Manhattan Project and discuss what motivated
the nuclear scientists.
Analyze the Article
3
Read and Discuss: Have students read the article. Discuss what makes this a secondary source. (It was
written in contemporary times by an author who researched the topic but didn’t experience the events firsthand.)
Then pose the following critical-thinking questions:
uWhy do you think Albert Einstein felt compelled to
6 •
uExplain why the Manhattan Project was kept top-
reach out to President Franklin D. Roosevelt about the
secret. Do you think that such a large-scale
prospect of an atomic weapon in 1939? (Einstein knew
government project could be kept under wraps today?
that the enormous amount of energy inside atoms could
(Other nations, including the Soviet Union, Germany, and
be unleashed to create a powerful weapon, and he was
Japan, were also trying to develop atomic weapons—and
concerned that German dictator Adolf Hitler would develop
the U.S. was determined to be first. Answers will vary on
an atomic bomb before the U.S.)
whether such a project could remain secret today.)
Upfront • upfrontmagazine.com
u Describe how the concept of “mutually assured
uAnalyze why the U.S. is particularly concerned
destruction” (MAD) shaped the nuclear arms race.
about North Korea’s possession of nuclear weapons.
(MAD was the idea that a nuclear attack by either the U.S.
(North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-Un, is mysterious and
or the Soviet Union would result in immediate retaliation by
unpredictable. There are concerns that he might use the
the other side. Knowing this made both nations reluctant to
weapons to bomb Japan or South Korea, both U.S. allies,
use atomic weapons even as they stockpiled them.)
and that he may sell the weapons to terrorists.)
4
Integrate the Primary Source: Project or distribute the PDF
‘New Means of Destruction’ (p. 13 of this Teacher’s Guide), which features
an excerpt from a petition discouraging the use of the atomic bomb written by
scientists to President Harry S. Truman in 1945. Discuss what makes it a primary
source. (Scientists wrote it in 1945.) Have students read the excerpt and answer
these questions (which appear on the PDF without answers). Discuss.
ow would you sum up the scientists’ purpose
uH
in petitioning the president? (The scientists’ purpose is
u What “solemn responsibility” does the U.S. bear,
to ask the president to weigh all of the moral considerations
according to the scientists? Why? (Because the U.S.
related to using the atomic bomb and to appeal to him to
had a “lead in the field of atomic power” as the only nation
use the bomb against Japan only as a last resort.)
with an atomic bomb, the scientists argue that the country
has a responsibility to prevent the uncontrolled acquisition
uHow would you describe the tone of the petition? (The
of nuclear weapons by rival powers—a situation that
scientists’ tone may be described as straightforward or
would put cities in the U.S. and around the world in
urgent. It is also respectful to the president.)
danger of annihilation.)
uUnder what circumstances do the writers say that use
u What does the petition add to your understanding of
of the atomic bomb against Japan might be justified?
the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki as outlined
(The scientists believe that the use of atomic bombs against
in the Upfront article? (The article describes how the
Japan could be justified only under three conditions: if
U.S. acquired the atomic bomb, how it decided to use the
the U.S. first gave Japan a chance to surrender, making
bomb against Japan, and what the legacy of that decision
public the terms Japan would face; if Japan subsequently
has been. The petition helps readers understand that there
refused to surrender; and if the president weighed the moral
were concerns about using the bomb before the decision
implications of such a bombing, including the possibility
was made and that some people foresaw the possibility of
that rival powers would come to possess nuclear bombs.)
a dangerous arms race.)
Extend & Assess
5
Writing Prompt
In what ways are we still living
6
Classroom Debate
Choose a side: Was use of the
7
Quiz & Paired Text
Use the quiz on page 10 of
with the legacy of the creation of the
atomic bomb inevitable once the
this Teacher’s Guide. Try pairing
atomic bomb? Write a brief essay,
technology existed?
the article with the book Hiroshima
using evidence from both the article
by John Hersey (true stories of six
and the scientists’ petition to support
Hiroshima survivors). Compare and
your response.
contrast how the two texts portray
the consequences of the bombing.
Find all activity sheets and other support materials at www.upfrontmagazine.com
M a r ch 1 6, 20 1 5 • u p f r o nt m aga z i n e .co m • 7