Living Through the Cold War Years
Verbal/Linguistic
1. Read aloud the Iron Curtain Speech by Winston Churchill
2. Write a research paper about the Marshall Plan or Truman Doctrine
3. Compare and contrast early American and Soviet space programs
4. Write a poem about the Sputnik satellite.
5. Create a word web of the “Cold War.”
6. Complete a descriptive writing about the Berlin Blockade
7. Discuss the policy of containment and America’s entry into the Korean conflict
8. Research and write about the construction of the Berlin Wall.
9. Debate the decisions made by President Kennedy during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
10. Write a newspaper article about the Cuban Missile Crisis
11. Write a journal entry as Neil Armstrong about landing on the moon in July 1969.
Logical/Mathematical
1. Analyze financial data about the Marshall Plan
2. Graph American lives lost in the Korean conflict
3. Chart how the Cold War affected America’s defense budget from 1945 to 1969.
4. Compare and contrast the atomic bomb and the hydrogen bomb.
5. Determine why a nuclear arms race developed between the United States and Soviet
Union.
6. Sequence the major events of the Cold War from 1945 to 1969 on a time line.
7. Evaluate the theory of stockpiling nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons during the
Cold war to prevent another World War.
8. Evaluate President Kennedy’s assassination conspiracy theories.
9. Compare and contrast the military strength of NATO and the Warsaw Pacts by 1969.
10. Contrast America’s involvement in Korea and Vietnam.
11. List the effects the Sputnik satellite had on America.
Visual/Spatial
1. Design a map of Europe after 1945.
2. Create a political cartoon about the Berlin Blockade.
3. Watch a video and give a report on the construction of the Berlin Wall.
4. Create a political cartoon of General MacArthur’s dismissal by President Truman.
5. Create a collage of clothing worn in the 1950’s.
6. Design a postcard about a major event in the 1950’s.
7. Build a model of the Sputnik.
8. Design a political cartoon about the Berlin Wall.
9. Design a political cartoon about the Cuban Missile Crisis.
10. Make a poster about five popular movies during the 1950’s or 1960’s.
11. Draw a scene about America’s landing on the moon.
12. Create a PowerPoint about new appliances built in the 1950’s.
13. Examine photographs of automobiles made in the 1950’s and 1960’s.
14. Create a crossword puzzle about the major events of the Cold War.
Musical/Rhythmic
1. Examine the history of rock and roll music and give a report or create a video.
2. Watch a video clip of the Beatles’ arrival in America and give a report.
3. Report on the music composed by African Americans during the 1950’s.
4. Discover and report on African American writers and performers of rock and roll.
5. Listen and report on the folk music of the 1960’s.
6. Compare and contrast the music of the 1950’s to the music of the 1960’s.
7. Listen and report on the music of Chuck Berry, Ray Charles, and The Four Tops.
8. Identify and report on five popular female singers from the 1950’s & 1960’s.
Bodily/Kinestetic
1. Perform the dance called The Twist by Chubby Checker.
2. Act out the role of a 1950’s teen using a Hula hoop.
3. Perform a pantomime about the Cold War.
4. Build a model of the Berlin Wall.
5. Build a model of a spaceship from the 1960’s.
6. Re-enact Neil Armstrong’s moon walk.
7. Act out the role of President Kennedy during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Naturalist
1. Research the reasons why President Eisenhower desired an interstate highway
system across America.
2. Describe how the interstate highway systems changed America.
3. Create a map of the United States, showing all the interstate highways.
4. Find pictures of the first moon walk and determine the mineral composition of moon
rocks.
5. Locate photographs of the physical features of the moon and describe the features.
6. Record changes in America’s space program from 1960 to 1969.
7. Create a poster about the NASA Space Center in Florida.
8. Create a poster about the Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC.
9. Locate and write a poem about a picture of Earth made from outer space.
10. Categorize the foods taken into space by astronauts.
11. Categorize the parts of a space suit.
12. Record changes in space technology from 1960-1969.
13. Find and describe pictures of America’s Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBM’s) that
were placed in silos in the desert soil during the Cold War.
14. Observe video of hydrogen bomb tests in Operation Crossroads and give a report.
15. View video of astronauts being extracted from the ocean after returning from outer
space and give a report.
Interpersonal
1. Discuss with a partner America’s testing of hydrogen bombs in the Pacific region in the
1950’s.
2. Take turns stating how life changed for American women in the 1950’s.
3. Discuss with others the impact that Brown v. Board of Education would have upon
America.
4. Do a team presentation on how music changed in the 1950’s.
5. Write a term paper of the impact The Beatles had on America.
6. Discuss with a partner how the automobile industry changed in the 1950’s.
7. Interview each other about the policy of containment and the domino theory.
8. Do a team presentation on the construction of bomb or fallout shelters during the
Cold War.
9. Take turns role-playing historical persons from the 1950’s or 1960’s.
Intrapersonal
1. Prioritize America’s major goals during the Cold War.
2. Describe your feelings about the construction of the Berlin Wall.
3. Describe the mood changes in Americans during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
4. Defend the Brown v. Board of Education decision.
5. Take a stance for or against America’s entry into the Korean Conflict.
6. Take a stance for or against the Nuclear Arms Race.
7. Weigh alternatives to the Nuclear Arms Race toward global destruction.
8. Write an ethical code for testing nuclear weapons to protect mankind and the
environment.
9. Write about the actions of Nakita Krushchev during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
10. Write a personal poem about the Cold War.
11. List the priorities that Americans should have had towards civil rights in the 1950’s.
12. Describe your feelings about America’s quest to be the first nation to land a man on
the moon.