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Student Learning Plan
Dropping of the Atomic Bombs
Structured Academic Controversy
SAC
Context
Overview/Background
This lesson focuses on two main SOL objectives, one of which deals with major
events and turning points of World War II and the other dealing with the ability to
evaluate and debate issues orally and in writing. This lesson will be taught in the second
semester of the school year after the students have an understanding of the basics of how
World War II ended and will be a way to consider the events in more detail. As there are
two sides to the issue of dropping the atomic bomb, this lesson will be taught as a
structured academic controversy (SAC).
Rationale
The purpose of a SAC lesson is to allow students to explore two sides of an issue in
a highly structured setting that requires all students to participate and learn in a
cooperative fashion. I feel that a lesson on the United States decision to drop the atomic
bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki fits very well into the SAC framework. There are a
variety of reasons on both sides of the ledger for and against the decision. In addition,
many of these reasons, such as the immoral aspect of the attack and the terrorism
argument, speak to moral and ethical values. Discussion of these sorts of issues benefit
greatly from the highly scaffold approach SAC lessons take as they focus on learning
and reporting the reasons, rather than passing judgment on them. Students also are
required to report on both the for and against side of the argument, ensuring that all
students give proper attention to all issues involved. They are also allowed to ask
questions of the opposite group and students are asked to clarify their position, which
helps students to refine their cooperative learning skills as well as their critical thinking
skills, which are required to ask questions and clarify in this fashion.
While the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is a relatively small event in terms
of the history of the United States, I feel it is very appropriate to spend a class period
discussing the topic. The dropping of the atomic bomb turned out to be a catastrophic
event for those in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but also brought an end to one of the largest
wars the world had seen. In addition, the use of the atomic bomb ushered in a new era of
weaponry and set the seeds for the arms race that would soon be a focus of the Cold
War. It is important that students consider and gain and understanding of the factors that
went into the United States decisions and the ramification of those decisions. I feel that
with an issue like this one, a SAC is more appropriate than a debate as it has already
happened. For this particular SAC I will ask the students to think mainly in a historical
perspective, although I feel that students considering this controversy in terms of the
current War on Terror could be beneficial and make for an interesting discussion.
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Time
This lesson is designed to take an entire block class period (90 mins). It is possible for
it to take less or more time depending on how the students handle reading the material
and preparing their presentation.
Grade Level/ Course
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Intended Uses
o 11th Grade
o American Studies/ US History (Williamsburg James City Schools)
Applicable To
o Any US History
Objectives
SOL Objectives
USII.6
The student will demonstrate knowledge of the major causes and effects
of American involvement of in World War II by
b) Describing the major events and turning points of the war in Europe and the
Pacific
USII.1
The student will demonstrate skill for historical and geographic analysis,
including the ability to
e) Evaluate and debate issues orally and in writing
WJCC Objectives
38)
Identify major battles, leaders, acts of aggression and strategic decisions
of World War II
b.
Battles
iii.
Asia: Pearl Harbor, Midway, Iwo Jima, Okinawa,
Hiroshima and Nagasaki
c. Strategic Decisions: Blitzkrieg, U-Boats, Island Hopping, Manhattan
Project
Essential Understanding
1) Despite initial Axis success in both Europe and the Pacific, the Allies
persevered and ultimately defeated Germany and Japan
Essential Knowledge
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SOL
o The United States dropped two atomic bombs on Japan (Hiroshima
and Nagasaki) in 1945, forcing Japan to surrender and ending WWII.
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WJCC
o 3. Pacific
 c: Hiroshima and Nagasaki: atomic bombs used to force
Japanese surrender
NCSS Standards
II. Time. Continuity and Change
Social Studies programs should include experiences that provide for the
study of the way human beings view themselves in and over time so that
learners can
e.
Investigate, interpret, and analyze multiple historical and
contemporary viewpoints within and across cultures related to important
events, recurring dilemmas, and persistent views, while employing
empathy, skepticism, and critical judgment
Lesson Objectives
1) Students will be able to identify the major reasons for and against the dropping
of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in a small group structured
academic discussion.
2) Students will be able to evaluate the major reasons for and against the dropping
of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki by participating in a full class
discussion after the SAC.
3) Students will be able to make an argument for or against the dropping of the
atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in a four paragraph essay making two
convincing arguments.
4) Students will be able to demonstrate knowledge of either an argument for or
against the dropping of the atomic bomb by drawing a political cartoon or
persuasive poster. (Not for Advanced Class)
Assessment
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Students will be assessed in two ways
o Guided Worksheet (or self made for Advanced)
 Completion Grade
 Based on percentage completed
 Will be included as a page in class binder
 Held accountable for having it completed at the end of the
unit before the test.
o Persuasive Essay (Option 1)
 Student will complete a four paragraph essay that chooses a side
of the issue
 Students must be able to state reasons and provide an argument
for why they consider it important
 Point Values
 Introduction and Conclusion- 4 points total
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o Clarity
o Historical background
o Sums up key points
 Reasons- 4 points each
o Must include at least 3 reasons
o Clarity
o Correct application and identification of reasons
o Argument supported
 Grammar/Structure- 4 points
 TOTAL= 20 points
o Political Cartoon or Poster (Option 2)
 Students will create a political cartoon or poster highlighting
reasons for or against the dropping of the atomic bomb
 MUST BE TASTEFUL
 Point Value
 Clear Theme- 4 points total
o Historical reference
o Clarity
o Easy to understand
 Reasons- 4 points each
o Must highlight at least 3 reasons
o Clarity
o Correct application of reason
 Overall Look- 4 points
o Color
o Neat Writing
 TOTAL- 20 Points
Content and Instructional Strategies
Teaching Style
- Mini Lecture
- Small Group Work
- Structured Discussion
Controversy
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Should the United States have dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and
Nagasaki to end World War II?
Procedure (for Regular class- see Differentiation for changes to be made for Advanced
Class)
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1 ) Introduction (3 mins)
o Explanation of lesson
1. SAC lesson
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2. Goal is to look at two sides of an issue
3. Will require all of you to examine the issues on both sides of the
controversy
4. All will be required to talk and contribute
5. Goal is to learn both sides of the issue by discussing orally as a
group and explaining and clarifying to the other group.
6. At the end, you will asked to take a side in an out of class essay
o Introduction of Controversy (10 mins)
1. Mini Lecture
 Historical background of the event
o D-Day ended WWII in Europe
o Still going on in Pacific
2. “Today we will be examining how the war in the Pacific ended
and whether the US should have ended it the way they did”
2) Divide students into groups of 4 and have them arrange their desks in a square
(2 mins)
3) Pass out background reading: The American’s p. 789-790 (10 mins)
o Allow time for students to read individually
o Briefly discuss as a class what the controversy is and what its key
features are
1. “What is the controversy in this event”
2. Why is it a controversy?”
4) Pass out Guided Worksheet and first round of pro-con worksheets
o Two members get the pro sheet, two get the con sheet
o Allow students time to read the worksheets (annotate) (10 mins)
o Pairs get together to fill out the worksheet and discuss (5 mins)
1. “What the position is?”
2. “What are the main points of the position?”
3. “How to present the positions as effectively as possible?”
o Pros- Present their arguments (3 mins)
1. Cons- Ask clarifying questions afterwards (2 mins)
o Cons- Present their argument (3 mins)
1. Pros- Ask clarifying questions afterwards (2 mins)
5) Pass out another Guided Worksheet and second round of pro-con worksheets
(25 mins)
o Students trade worksheets
o Same procedure as previous round
6) Debrief as a group (10 mins)
o Answer questions on the back of the Guided Worksheet as a group
1. What sides does each member take?
2. What argument was the strongest?
3. What argument was the weakest?
4. Why might the US have decided to act as it did?
7) Class debrief (15 mins)
o Go over as a class what the students decided in their own debrief
o Revisit questions from guided worksheet
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o Compare it to the US response to 9/11? (if class seems to be able to
handle this)
o
Resources (Appendix II)
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The Americans, McDougal Littell New York, NY 2003 pp. 789-790
Dietrich, Bill “Pro and Con on Dropping the Bomb” Seattle Times
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/special/trinity/supplement/procon.html
Teacher Created “For and Against” worksheets with the help of Dietrich
Excerpt from Fussell, Paul “Thank God for the Atomic Bomb: Hiroshima a
Soldiers View” found on
http://www.uncp.edu/home/berrys/courses/hist102/hist102_docs_abomb.pdf
Excerpt from Walzner, Michael “A Dissenting View” of the above excerpt found
on http://www.uncp.edu/home/berrys/courses/hist102/hist102_docs_abomb.pdf
Differentiation
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Number of data sets
o Advanced
 Will use two different data sources in the two rounds
 First Round of For-Against
 Excerpts from a book listed in the resource section (too
long to cut and paste into lesson plan)
 Second Round of For-Against
 Teacher created bullet points
o Regular
 Will use the same date sources in each round
 Simply will trade Teacher created bullet points
Guided Worksheet
o Will not be provided to Advanced class
 Will develop their own note taking strategy
 Will answer their own questions in the debrief
Assessment Used
o Advanced
 Will be required to do the persuasive writing
o Regular
 Will have a choice of persuasive writing or political cartoon or
poster
Adaptations
IEP and 504
- Lesson will be adapted where necessary to accommodate Individual Education
Plans (IEP) and 540 documentation
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Examples
o Provide Partial Notes
o Have students read sources together
o Adapt assessment assignment where necessary
Reflection
Pre-Reflection
I believe this lesson is well planned and has a very high chance of success. I feel the
data sources I have found and created, when differentiation is taken into effect, are
appropriate and engaging. I also feel I have structured the lesson very well to allow my
students to be able to get the most out of the lesson in a timely manner. My major
concern is that students will not understand the point of the assignment and will simply
regurgitate the information in the sources without digging deeper into the controversy.
The only way to solve this concern is to teach them how to participate in SACs, which I
can do more in the spring when I begin student teaching.
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REASONS FOR DROPPING THE ATOMIC BOMB ON HIROSHIMA AND
NAGASAKI
Instructions: Read this list of reasons for dropping the atomic bomb, highlighting
important material. Then, choose with your partner the 3 that are most convincing to
present to those against the dropping of the atomic bomb.
- The Japanese had demonstrated near-fanatical resistance, fighting to almost the last man
on Pacific islands, committing mass suicide on Saipan and unleashing kamikaze attacks
at Okinawa. Fire bombing had killed 100,000 in Tokyo with no discernible political
effect.
- The atomic bomb would in theory bring a quick end to the already long war. Any other
method would be time consuming.
- With only two bombs ready (and a third on the way by late August 1945) it was too
risky to "waste" one in a demonstration over an unpopulated area.
- An invasion of Japan would have caused casualties on both sides that could easily have
exceeded the toll at Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
- As some of the scientist working on the bomb stated “if we can save even a handful of
American lives, the let us use this weapon”
- The two targeted cities would have been firebombed anyway.
- Immediate use of the bomb convinced the world of its horror and prevented future use
when nuclear stockpiles were far larger.
- It was part of total war, or a conflict of unlimited scope in which participants mobilize
all resources available to them.
- Japanese leadership was resistant to the idea of surrender. Only the use of the atomic
bomb and the destruction it caused could convince them to surrender.
- Not using the atomic bomb would make the Manhattan Project (the name of the project
to make the bomb) a failure and a waste of money.
- The Soviet Union was quickly gaining power. The use of the atomic bomb would give
the United States an advantage over the Soviet Union.
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REASONS AGAINST DROPPING THE ATOMIC BOMB ON HIROSHIMA AND
NAGASAKI
Instructions: Read this list of reasons against dropping the atomic bomb, highlighting
important material. Then, choose with your partner the 3 that are most convincing to
present to those for the dropping of the atomic bomb.
- Japan was ready to call it quits anyway. More than 60 of its cities had been destroyed by
conventional bombing, the home islands were being blockaded by the American Navy,
and the Soviet Union entered the war by attacking Japanese troops in Manchuria.
- American refusal to modify its "unconditional surrender" demand to allow the Japanese
to keep their emperor needlessly prolonged Japan's resistance.
- A demonstration explosion over Tokyo harbor would have convinced Japan's leaders to
quit without killing many people.
- Even if Hiroshima was necessary, the U.S. did not give enough time for word to filter
out of its devastation before bombing Nagasaki.
- The bomb was used partly to justify the $2 billion spent on its development.
- The two cities were of limited military value. Civilians outnumbered troops in
Hiroshima five or six to one.
- Due to the limited military value of the cities, the dropping of the atomic bombs were an
act of terrorism as civilians were the main casualties.
- Japanese lives were sacrificed simply for power politics between the U.S. and the Soviet
Union.
- Conventional firebombing would have caused as much significant damage without
making the U.S. the first nation to use nuclear weapons.
- It is immoral to drop the atomic bomb without warning and to drop the second bomb all
together.
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GUIDED WORKSHEET
POINT
WHY IMPORTANT?
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GUIDED WORKSHEET PART II
1. What sides does each member take?
2. What argument was the strongest?
3. What argument was the weakest?
4. Why might the US have decided to act as it did?
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Reflection on Differentiation
While I will not be teaching this lesson until the spring, I do believe it is
successfully differentiated both in terms of theory and feedback on ways to differentiate I
have learned from my CT and her teaching assistant. There are two ways that
differentiation is done within my American Studies class. One way is between class
periods, as one is Advanced and the other two, for lack of a better term, are Regular. This
set up provided built in differences in achievement and the classes must be differentiated
to account for these differences. The other way is within a class, as all learners, regardless
of whether they are already separated by a broad achievement level tier, are different and
learn in different ways.
There are three major ways in which this lesson is differentiated, which is
illuminated in the lesson plan. The first way deals with the number of sources that are
provided, which is differentiated between classes. As the lesson plan described, the
Advanced class will use different sources for each “round” of the pro-con discussion and
the Regular class will use the same source for each round. I differentiated this for two
major reasons. For one, the Advanced class is more familiar with doing the type of
reading required for the book excerpt, as they often participate in Socratic seminars,
while the Regular classes do not read those types of sources in a critical sense as often.
Another reason deals with scaffolding. I feel, and it seems as if my CT would likely
agree, that the Regular students would likely need too much scaffolding to make the book
excerpt a worthwhile activity, especially when very similar information is provided in the
bullet point source.
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The second major way I differentiated also dealt with scaffolding, which is again
differentiation between classes. The Advanced class will not be provided the guided
worksheet shown in the lesson plan while the Regular class will be provided the
worksheet. This is done mainly to differentiate student achievement levels as they are
broken up by the tier system of Williamsburg James City County Schools. In an attempt
to challenge the Advanced class to think critically about the sources and what they key
points provided are and which of those points are important, they will be asked to
develop their own note taking strategy. In theory, the Regular class needs more
scaffolding to pull out the necessary information as they are not as strong in social studies
as they might be in other classes or simply do not enjoy history enough to want to think
critically. As a result, they will be guided through the activity more than the Advanced
class will be. I believe it is important though not to limit the opportunities for students to
over-achieve beyond the track they have been put in. As a result, I will allow any of the
Regular students to use their own strategy if they want to, as long as they show me what
they plan to do.
The final major way I plan to differentiate this lesson deals with assessment and is
both between and within class differentiation. The Advanced class will complete the
persuasive essay for the assessment while the Regular class will have a choice of either a
persuasive essay or creating a political cartoon or poster (as long as it is in good taste).
The Advanced class does not have a choice in assessment mainly because being in
Advanced American Studies means they are also in Advanced English, and as a result
should be practicing their ability to write, particularly since this is a persuasive essay that
is not as prevalent in English classrooms. The assessment choice is available for the
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Regular classes based on what my CT’s teacher assistant told me. She said her students,
or those in the class with an IEP or 504, learn better if they are presented material or can
show how they learned material using variety mediums, something my CT already does
very well. So, for those students who might not be strong writers or who have difficulty
expressing themselves in writing can show me they have learned the material by drawing.
This is something my CT already does a lot of with a high degree of success. But, yet
again, a student will not be required to draw if they learn better by writing, so a choice
will be provided. This is simply another example of how students learn in different ways,
and as a result it is important to cater to those differing abilities.
While these are the three major ways I differentiate, there are smaller
differentiations in the lesson. For example, students have a choice of what arguments for
or against they want to present to their partners. In addition, I am trying to find a good
video to use to start off the lesson to cater to the more visual learners in my class.
In the end, I feel I have created a lesson that will have a high degree of success in
terms of both content and differentiation. I feel the major differentiations I use will
benefit my students and increase the likelihood that all my students will be able to learn
the material and participate fully in the SAC model. There are those some potential
pitfalls in these differentiations. One might be that I have overestimated what the
Advanced Students can accomplish. There are four tracks of American Studies in
Williamsburg James City County, and the highest is AP, not Advanced. As a result, my
Advanced students might need more help with, for example, the note taking than I
originally thought. But, I have confidence in their ability as well as confidence in my
ability to adapt if I do find they need more scaffolding. Another that I have alluded to is
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that the Regular students will not take the drawing serious and will have to write, even
though that negatively affects the ability of some of the students to learn, as my CT’s
teacher assistant alluded to. But, the fact that my CT already does activities like this
increases the chance that this method will work. On the whole though, I believe this is a
well developed and differentiated lesson which I will have success teaching and that my
students will find interesting and will complete with great success.