Concordia University Nebraska Education Department Lesson Plan Format

Name: Thomas Young Grade Level: 10th

Topic/Central Focus: Atomic Bombs Subject: History

Time Frame: 50min

Standard(s) to be met in the lesson:

- SS HS.4.1.a (US) Evaluate the cause and effect of historical events on various groups in
the United States.
- SS HS.4.2.a (US) Identify and evaluate how considering multiple perspectives
facilitates an understanding of history.
- SS HS.4.3 (US) Examine historical events from the perspectives of marginalized and
underrepresented groups.
- SS HS.4.3.b (WLD) Interpret how and why diverse groups and/or individuals might
understand historical events similarly or differently.

Learning Objective: Assessment Tool(s) and Procedures:

- TSWBAT judge whether the atomic KWL Chart – Students will fill this out
bombs should or should not have been throughout the class to collect notes on the
dropped. atomic bombs.
- TSWBAT discuss important events Letter to the Editor – Students will write
leading up to the atomic bombs being a letter to a newspaper editor of their
dropped. opinion on if the bomb should or should not
have been dropped. Students will use
resources presented in class to justify their
stances.
Artifact Exhibit Walk – Student will
complete this lesson to gain multiple
perspectives on if the atomic bomb should
or should not have been dropped on Japan.

Research-Based Best Practice used in lesson and why it is appropriate/useful

Direct Instruction – Students will receive direct instruction from the teacher about events
leading to atomic bomb and the end of the war.
Cooperative Learning – Students will be able to work together to complete the artifact
exhibit walk and formulate opinions.

Student Engagement used throughout the lesson:

- Students will participate in an artifact exhibit walk to engage them with content
- Students will fill out a KWL chart to write down their notes to justify their stances.
- Students will watch videos introducing them to Pearl Harbor
- Students will write a letter to a newspaper editor justifying their opinions on whether
the bombs should or should not have been dropped.
Academic Language: Pearl Harbor, island hopping, Battle of Midway, Iwo Jima, Manhattan

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Project,

Materials: Technology:
PowerPoint, Artifact Exhibit, letter to editor Computer, Projector
assignment

Faith/Values Integration: N/A

Assets (Knowledge of Students: personal, cultural, community)

N/A

Differentiating Instruction
Identify the elements of the lesson that are differentiated (content, process, product).
Identify the student characteristic you will use to differentiate (readiness, interest, learning profile).
Explain how you differentiate (whole class, groups of students, individuals, or students with IEPs or 504 plans)
- Students will be able to talk to students in the class if they do not understand words in the artifact walk.
The teacher will also be there to support readers who may be below grading level. All students can work
at their own pace.
- Students will be presented information through video, lecture, and articles.

Procedure with time allotments:

A) Hook/Engage/Pre-Assess Students
Students will watch an introduction clip about about the attack on Pearl Harbor
(1:23), a short clip from a Pearl Harbor survivor (2:31) and will a watch a clip “75
years later: People react to Pearl Harbor.” (1:11) (5 min)
B) Communicate the purpose of the lesson to students (objective/assessment)
Students will get to judge whether it was just or not for the United States of America
to drop the atomic bombs. Students will also discuss important events leading up to
the dropping of the atomic bombs and the end of the war.
C) Instructional Sequence:
- Students will first receive a short lecture on what led up to the atomic bombs being
dropped and the end of the war. Students will learn about Pearl Harbor, Fighting
Japan, the Manhattan Project, both sides arguments to drop or not drop the bombs
and then finally the lecture will end with wartime conferences and the legacy of the
war.
- The teacher will use the PowerPoint slides titled Atomic Bombs, Wartime Conferences,
and The War’s Legacy. (10 min)
- The students will then participate in an artifact exhibit walk.
- Students will view photos and read first hand accounts of people’s opinions on the
atomic bombs. Students will read and see facts from both sides so they can formulate
an opinion on if the United States were just in dropping the bombs on Japan or not.

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- Students will fill out a KWL before they start looking at the exhibits. Students will fill
out the “Already Know” and “Want to Know” before the exhibit begins. Students will
then fill out the “Learned” while they are completing the exhibit to help them write
their letter to the editor.
- Remind students that they will need 3 arguments to support their opinion in their
letter to the editor.
- There will be 7 total exhibits for the students to look at and read.
- Exhibit #1 will be statistics and pictures of before and after the bombs were dropped.
- Exhibit #2 will a letter Franklin D. Roosevelt sent to many governments in 1939 about
Aerial Bombardment.
- Exhibit #3 will be a quote from James Byrnes talking about staying ahead of Russia.
- Exhibit #4 will be a petition to the President of the United States
- Exhibit #5 will be “Thank God for the Atom Bomb, by Paul Fussell”
- Exhibit #6 will be a testimony of Yoshitka Kawamoto
- Exhibit #7 will be the invasion that did not happen (30 min)
- If students finish the art exhibit walk sooner than the time allotted they then can
receive the paper they will write to the editor justifying their stance on the atomic
bombs.
D) Closure:
- Students will write their own newspaper letter to the editor that will address whether
the United States was justifies in dropping the atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
- Students will use notes from their KWL chart, which they wrote down from the
PowerPoint and the Artifact exhibit.
- Students will have to write a paragraph or two (60-100 words) about what position
either against or for the united states dropping the atomic bombs. Students will have
to support their claim with at least 3 reasons.
- Rubric provided below.
- If not completed in class, this will be homework for the students. (5 min)

Analyzing Teaching (Reflection):

Completed after the lesson is taught.

Give evidence that the lesson was successful for students meeting the learning
objective(s).

If you could teach this lesson to the same group of students again, what are two or three things you would do
differently to improve the learning of these students based on their varied developmental and academic needs and
characteristics? Consider missed opportunities and other aspects of planning, instruction, and/or assessment.
Explain in the table below.
Clearly state each change you would Explain why and how you would change
make. it.

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Letter to the Editor Guidelines

1. Must be typed and have at least 60 words and no more than 150 words.

2. Students names must be provided at the top of the paper or at the bottom.

3. You must take a side on if the atomic bombs should or should not have been dropped on Japan. You
will have to provide at least 3 arguments to defend your position.

4. Students will use information that was provided in the PowerPoint lecture and in the artifact
exhibits. Students can use the notes that they wrote down on their KWL charts also.

5. Students should begin their article by stating their position that you chose and then explain and
defend your reasons.

Atomic Bomb Letter to the Editor Grading Rubric

3 points 2 points 1 point 0 points
Length and Letter is between Letter is just short Letter is Does not meet
formatting 60 and 120 words of 60 words or significantly short any of the length
requirements and students longer than 120 of 60 words and or name
name is provided words or the may not have requirements
at the top or the student does not students name at
bottom provide their the top or the
name at the top bottom of the
or the bottom of paper
the paper
Taking a position Takes a clear Takes a position Mentions the use Makes no attempt
for or against the position either for either for or of the Atomic to take a position
use of the atomic or against the against the Bomb but on the use of the
bomb decision by the decision by the position, if Atomic Bomb
United States to United States to present is not
drop the Atomic drop the Atomic clear at all
Bombs Bombs. May not
be completely
clear
Reason #1 Reason one is Reason one is Reason one is Reason #1 is not
thoroughly explained and present, but lacks given at all
explained and defended, but details and
defended with no may be lacking supporting
factual errors. some depth or explanation. May
clarity. Small have substantial
factual errors may factual errors
be present
Reason #2 Reason two is Reason two is Reason two is Reason #2 is not
thoroughly explained and present, but lacks given at all
explained and defended, but details and
defended with no may be lacking supporting
factual errors. some depth or explanation. May

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clarity. Small have substantial

factual errors may factual errors
be present
Reason #3 Reason three is Reason three is Reason three is Reason #3 is not
thoroughly explained and present, but lacks given at all
explained and defended, but details and
defended with no may be lacking supporting
factual errors. some depth or explanation. May
clarity. Small have substantial
factual errors may factual errors
be present

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Name _______________________________________________ Date ______________________

KWL Chart – Fill in the first column and third column while you are watching the video. You will fill in the
second column at the end of class.

Topic ___________________________________________________

What I Know What I Want to Know What I Learned

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Exhibit #1
It is estimated that 66,000 people died in Hiroshima and 69,000 people were injured. It is estimated that
39,000 people dies in Nagasaki and 25,000 people were injured.

“The Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.” Total Casualties | The Atomic Bombings of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki | Historical Documents,
www.atomicarchive.com/Docs/MED/med_chp10.shtml.
“The Atomic Bomb and Hiroshima.” Theatomicbombandhiroshima, 27 Nov. 2010,
theatomicbombandhiroshima.wordpress.com/2010/11/22/hello-world/.

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Exhibit #2
Appeal of President Franklin D. Roosevelt on Aerial Bombardment of Civilian Populations, September 1,
1939

The President of the United States to the Governments of France, Germany, Italy, Poland, and His
Britannic Majesty, September 1, 1939

The ruthless bombing from the air of civilians in unfortified centers of population during the course of
the hostilities which have raged in the various quarters of the earth during the past few years, which has
resulted in the maiming and in the death of thousands of defenseless men, women, and children, has
sickened the hearts of every civilized man and woman, and has profoundly shocked the conscience of
humanity.

If resort is had to this form of inhumanity and barbarism during the period of the tragic conflagration
with which the world is now confronted, hundreds of thousands of innocent human beings who have no
responsibility for, and who are not even remotely participating in, the hostilities which have now broken
out, will lose their lives. I am therefore addressing this urgent appeal to every government which may be
engaged in hostilities publicly to affirm its determination that its armed forces shall in no event, and
under no circumstances, undertake the bombardment from the air of civilians populations or of
unfortified cities, upon the understanding that these same rules of warfare will be scrupulously
observed by all of their opponents. I request an immediate reply.

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Dannen, Gene. “International Law on the Bombing of Civilians.” International Law - Bombing of Civilians,
www.dannen.com/decision/int-law.html.

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Exhibit #3
Stopping Russia: James Byrnes
Manhattan Project scientist Leo Szilard met with Secretary of State James Byrnes
on May 28, 1945. He later recalled:
“[Byrnes]…was concerned about Russia’s postwar behavior. Russian troops had
moved into Hungary and Romania, and Byrnes thought it would be very difficult
to persuade Russia to withdraw her troops from these countries, that Russia
might be more manageable if impressed by American military might, and that a
demonstration of the bomb might impress Russia.”
Excerpt from Leo Szilard: His Version of the Facts: Selected Recollections and
Correspondence, Spencer Weart and Gertrud Szilard ed, (Cambridge: MIT Press,
1980) 184

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Exhibit #4
Except from the Szilard Petition, 1945

July 3, 1945

A PETITION TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

Discoveries of which the people of the United States are not aware may affect the welfare of this nation
in the near future. The liberation of atomic power which has been achieved places atomic bombs in the
hands of the Army. It places in your hands, as Commander-in-Chief, the fateful decision whether or not
to sanction the use of such bombs in the present phase of the war against Japan.

We, the undersigned scientists, have been working in the field of atomic power for a number of years.
Until recently we have had to reckon with the possibility that the United States might be attacked by
atomic bombs during this war and that her only defense might lie in a counterattack by the same means.
Today with this danger averted we feel impelled to say what follows

The war has to be brought speedily to a successful conclusion and the destruction of Japanese cities by
means of atomic bombs may very well be an effective method of warfare. We feel, however, that such
an attack on Japan could not be justified in the present circumstances. We believe that the United States
ought not to resort to the use of atomic bombs in the present phase of the war, at least not unless the
terms which will be imposed upon Japan after the war are publicly announced and subsequently Japan is
given an opportunity to surrender….

Atomic bombs are primarily a means for the ruthless annihilation of cities. Once they were introduced as
an instrument of war it would be difficult to resist for long the temptation of putting them to such use.

The last few years show a marked tendency toward increasing ruthlessness. At present our Air Forces,
striking at the Japanese cities, are using the same methods of warfare which were condemned by
American public opinion only a few years ago when applied by the Germans to the cities of England. Our
use of atomic bombs in this war would carry the world a long way further on this path of ruthlessness.

Atomic power will provide the nations with new means of destruction. The atomic bombs at our
disposal represent only the first step in this direction and there is almost no limit to the destructive
power which will become available in the course of this development….

In view of the foregoing, we, the undersigned, respectfully petition that you exercise your power as
Commander-in-Chief to rule that the United States shall not, in the present phase of the war, resort to
the use of atomic bombs.

Szilard Petition.” Atomic Heritage Foundation, www.atomicheritage.org/key-documents/szilard-petition.

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Exhibit #5
Excerpt from “Thank God for the Atom Bomb”

The New Republic - August 1981

by Paul Fussell

…On Okinawa, only weeks before Hiroshima, 123,000 Japanese and Americans killed each other. (About
140,000 Japanese died at Hiroshima.) “Just awful” was the comment on the Okinawa slaughter not of
some pacifist but of General MacArthur….

… I was a twenty-one-year-old second lieutenant of infantry leading a rifle platoon. Although still
officially fit for combat, in the German war I had already been wounded in the back and the leg badly
enough to be adjudged, after the war, 40 percent disabled. But even if my leg buckled and I fell to the
ground whenever I jumped out of the back of a truck, and even if the very idea of more combat made
me breathe in gasps and shake all over, my condition was held to be adequate for the next act. When
the atom bombs were dropped and news began to circulate that “Operation Olympic” would not, after
all, be necessary, when we learned to our astonishment that we would not be obliged in a few months
to rush up the beaches near Tokyo assault-firing while being machine-gunned, mortared, and shelled,
for all the practiced phlegm of our tough facades we broke down and cried with relief and joy. We were
going to live. We were going to grow to adulthood after all. The killing was all going to be over, and
peace was actually going to be the state of things. When the Enola Gay dropped its package, “There
were cheers,” says John Toland, “over the intercom; it meant the end of the war.”…

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Exhibit #6
Except from “Testimony of Yoshitaka Kawamoto”

“Voice of Hibakusha”

Hiroshima Peace Cultural Center

Mr. Yoshitaka Kawamoto was thirteen years old in 1945. He was in the classroom at Zakobacho, 0.8
kilometers away from the hypocenter of the bomb.

KAWAMOTO: One of my classmates, I think his name is Fujimoto, he muttered something and pointed
outside the window,saying, "A B-29 is coming." He pointed outside with his finger. So I began to get up
from my chair and asked him, "Where is it?"…. All I can remember was a pale lightening flash for two or
three seconds. Then, I collapsed. I don t know much time passed before I came to. It was awful, awful.
The smoke was coming in from somewhere above the debris. Sandy dust was flying around. I was
trapped under the debris and I was in terrible pain and that's probably why I came to. I couldn't move,
not even an inch. Then, I heard about ten of my surviving classmates singing our school song. I
remember that. I could hear sobs. Someone was calling his mother… We thought that someone would
come and help us out. That's why we were singing a school song so loud. But nobody came to help…
Then I started to feel fear creeping in. I started to feel my way out pushing the debris away little by little,
using all my strength. Finally I cleared the things around my head. And with my head sticking our of the
debris, I realized the scale of the damage. The sky over Hiroshima was dark. Something like a tornado or
a big fire ball was storming throughout the city… I crawled over the debris, trying to find someone who
were still alive. Then, I found one of my classmates lying alive. I held him up in my arms. It is hard to tell,
his skull was cracked open, his flesh was dangling out from his head. He had only one eye left, and it was
looking right at me. First, he was mumbling something but I couldn't understand him… I went to Miyuki
Bridge to get some water. At the river bank, I saw so many people collapsed there. And the small steps
to the river were jammed, filled with people pushing their way to the water. I was small, so I pushed on
the river along the small steps. The water was dead people. I had to push the bodies aside to drink the
muddy water. We didn't know anything about radioactivity that time. I stood up in the water and so
many bodies were floating away along the stream. I can t find the words to describe it. It was horrible. I
felt fear. …. I became completely bald. My eyes, I lost my eye sight, probably not because of the
radioactivity, but because I became so weak. I couldn`t see for about three months. But I was only
thirteen, I was still young, and I was still growing when I was hit by the A-bomb. So about one year later.
I regained my health. I recovered good health. Today I am still working as you can see. As the director of
the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, today, I am handing my message over to the children who visit.
I want them to learn about Hiroshima. And when they grow up, I want them to hand down the message
to the next generation with accurate information. I'd like to see him conveying the right sense of
judgment so that we will not lead mankind to annihilation. That is our responsibility.

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Exhibit #7
Excerpt from “The Invasion That Didn’t Happen”

Airforce Magazine - June 2009.

John Correll

…Others, notably Gen. George C. Marshall, the influential Army Chief of Staff, were convinced an
invasion would be necessary…

Japan had concentrated its strength for a decisive defense of the homeland. In June, Tokyo’s leaders
decided upon a fight to the finish, committing themselves to extinction before surrender. As late as
August, Japanese troops by the tens of thousands were pouring into defensive positions on Kyushu and
Honshu…

The overall invasion plan was code-named Operation Downfall…. The invasion plan called for a US force
of 2.5 million. Instead of being demobilized and going home, soldiers and airmen in Europe would
redeploy to the Pacific. Forces already in the Pacific would be joined by 15 Army divisions and 63 air
groups from the European Theater…

Operation Downfall consisted of two parts:

Operation Olympic. This invasion of Kyushu, the southernmost of Japan’s main islands, was set for Nov.
1, 1945. It would be an amphibious landing a third larger than D-Day in Normandy….

Operation Coronet. This was the code name for an invasion, in March 1946, of Honshu, the largest of the
Japanese islands. Coronet would require 1,171,646 US troops, including a landing force of 575,000
soldiers and marines. It would be the largest invasion force ever assembled. Operation Coronet would
make use of airfields on Kyushu captured during Operation Olympic.

As Japan’s desperation grew, the ferocity of its armed resistance intensified. The code of bushido—“the
way of the warrior”—was deeply ingrained, both in the armed forces and in the nation. Surrender was
dishonorable…

In fact, Joint Staff planners on two occasions worked up casualty estimates and came out in the same
range. In August 1944, using casualty rates from fighting on Saipan as a basis, they said that “it might
cost us a half-million American lives and many times that number in wounded” to take the Japanese
home islands. An April 1945 report projected casualties of 1,202,005— including 314,619 killed and
missing—in Operations Olympic and Coronet, and more if either of the campaigns lasted more than 90
days.

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