Name: Brian J.

Adams Subject: Technology and the Cold War Course: Modern American History Duration: 3 Weeks Grade: 12th

Temple University

Overarching Understanding Goals (NCSS/NCHE/other) The things I most want my students to understand after this unit are Following the completion of this Unit, I want my students to understand and objectively analyze the following concepts which are found throughout the entire timeline of American History: Students will be able to be able to explain the connection between technological advancements and the events of the Cold War that resulted therefrom. How did the development of new technology effect international policies? How did American society change internally as a result of these advances?

Students will be able to compare the roles that technology plays in society. In which ways did the American public react to the continuous developments during the Cold War? Students will be able to critique strategies used in conflict and peace in international affairs given the historical context of each situation and apply these lessons to contemporary issues. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NOTE: The Overreaching Understanding Goals are guided by the following NCSS, NCSS and PA Standards NCSS: How science, and its practical application, technology, have had a major influence on social and cultural change, and on the ways people interact with the world. NCHE: Conflict and Cooperation: The causes of war and the approaches to peace, and the human consequences of both; the relations between domestic affairs and foreign policy; choices made between international conflict and cooperation, isolation and interdependence. PA Standards: 8.1.12.B: Evaluate the interpretation of historical events and sources, considering the use of fact versus opinion, multiple perspectives, and cause and effect relationships 8.3.12.C: Evaluate how continuity and change in U.S. history are interrelated with the world: Belief systems and religions, commerce and industry, technology, politics and government, physical and human geography, social organizations. 8.3.12.D: Evaluate how conflict and cooperation among groups and organizations in the U.S. have influenced the growth and development of the world.

Generative Topic Central topics/themes/skills to the discipline Explain. The Effects of Technology on Cold War Policy and Society: Throughout this unit students will examine the technological advancements made throughout the Cold War and how it shaped both domestic and foreign affairs. They will be able to examine each perspective of the events taking into consideration the careful historical context of the situation through a steady reinforcement of the background knowledge. They will be able to critique the reactions to Cold War developments as well as the reactions by both Soviet and U.S. citizens.

Essential Questions The questions Id like my students to be able to answer are 1. Does new technology always represent progress?
What are some of the implications that new technology can have on a society both positively and negatively? What are the driving factors for the rapid increase in technology during the Cold War Era? What modern day parallels can be drawn between the atomics arms race with the Soviet Union? What can be learned from these parallels?

2. Does one country have the right to restrict anothers technological advancement of its own?
Can collective security justify violated states rights?

3. How do new developments alter a societys values?

What role does fear play in societys overall values during times of conflict? How can government policy both on the home front and abroad be shifted? How can technological advancements be a source of pride or shame for a society?

4. When can absolute war be justified?

Was the decision to drop the atomic bomb strictly in the name of American lives? How does societys view of the other effect their sympathy towards another group of people or country?

Performances of Understanding Skills/Content 1. Introductory: The introductory activity will be a brief written response journal to the first days lesson on North Korea and the parallels that can be drawn with the Soviet Union during the Cold War Era. Lesson will provide basic background knowledge and context for the rest of the unit. These various written responses will make up the majority of the students homework grade throughout the unit as well as participation in class discussion of journals in the next classes. 2. Guided: Primary source evaluation activity. Each pair of students will be given articles with conflicting perspectives that describe the same events, taking into account the event itself, the author, and the possible biases that could lie within someones writing. 3. Guided: Students will then dive deeper into reporting events that took place as a result of technological advances during the Cold War from varying perspectives in groups. 4. Guided: Given a specific area of technological development to research (military, scientific, communications, etc.), students will each research specific developments during the Cold War and examine the effects on change in society. 5. Guided: The students will each present their area of research to the class in either a poster or powerpoint presentation. They will have to demonstrate the events leading up to the change, the response, and the implications that led into the future. 6. Culminate: In a 3-4 page essay you will analyze how the relations between the United States and the Soviet Union continued to change throughout the Cold

Ongoing Assessment Students will get feedback on their performances by... 1. Journal Entry: How does the idea of North Korea as an irrational nation effect international opinion of their atomic research? What do you think the proper response to North Korea would be? How may have the U.S. responded to these threats in the past? 2. Worksheet: They will record their observations on a ven diagram to organize their thoughts. What are key differences in the stories? What are the commonalities in each perspective? 3. Presentation: Students will then present a news broadcast in either a live performance, a voice or video recording of their particular event carefully describing what happened and articulating the main perspective that they are viewing the events through. 4. Worksheets: Along with student presentations they will be required to fill out guided notes on each of their classmates presentations to better prepare themselves for the final essay assignment. They will be checked for understanding and thoroughness throughout the duration of the presentations. 5. Journal Entry: In a 1-2 page reflection students will articulate their understanding of the particular area they researched by explaining its significance in the historical context as well as drawing connections to changes that theyve experienced in their own lifetime. 6. Discussion: After the completion of the presentations I will facilitate a discussion with my students about the roles of different technology. Which were the most beneficial to American society and the global community? Which were the most harmful? Is the advancement of technology symbolic of progress? This will be an informal measure of their understanding through collaborative discussion in the classroom. 7. Final Assessment: With thorough research already gathered from both their own research and the guided notes from their classmates

War as a result of continuous technological developments. How did global communications (i.e. television, radio, media) increase as a result of technological advancements that occurred during the Cold War affect American society and/or international relations? How did the threat of the progress of an opposing power shape the U.S. policies?

presentations they will need to demonstrate a clear understanding and analysis of the effect of technology on Cold War relations between the Soviet Union and the U.S. as well as domestic society policies.

Learning Plan 1. The teacher will introduce the thematic strands, essential questions, and learning objectives for the Cold War unit. 2. Through the intro activity the students will draw ties between a relevant issue in the modern global community and establish ties to Cold War Era in order to gain a basic understanding of historical context. 3. Complete a journal entry showing their understanding of the basic theme of the unit; how technology can affect domestic society as well as international policy. 4. Teach the main events that led up to and resulted from technological advancements made throughout the era. 5. Identify the major players in the Cold War (U.S., U.S.S.R., U.K., China) and their relationships to each other. 6. Students will compare and contrast conflicting perspectives and demonstrate understanding through filling out the ven diagram worksheet. 7. Students will reflect on the possible effects of writing bias in both primary and secondary source documents. 8. Through their new broadcast activity, they will demonstrate their understanding of a key event during the Cold War placing it in the proper historical context of the period. 9. In class discussions will measure the differences in perspectives expressed in the primary source materials used in their research and bias will be discussed. 10. Teacher will instruct students on how to use databases to find both primary and secondary sources. 11. Students will teach each other through presentation about significant events in the Cold War. 12. Students will take notes on presentations to create a database of information from which to guide their final assessment assignments. 13. Students will focus on specific areas of technological advancements and their effects on U.S. society and foreign policy.

14. Students will provide an argument about whether or not technology represents progress in a short journal entry. 15. They will be able to defend their position from their journals in an in-class debate on which technological advancements had the most positive/negative impacts. 16. Teacher will scaffold persuasive writing techniques to better frame student arguments in final papers. 17. Teacher will review how to properly cite sources in essay responses in MLA format. 18. Students will write a 3-4 page essay clearly articulating a relationship between technological advancements and societal change in values and/or international relations.

Resources Cold War: Harbutt, Fraser, The Cold War Era. Levering, Ralph, et al. Debating the Origins of the Cold War. Lawrence, Mark, The Vietnam War. http://library.thinkquest.org/10826/timeline.htm http://www.studythepast.com/vbprojects/cold_war_science_and_technology.htm

Primary v. Secondary Documents: Cold War Primary Source Documents - http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/coldwar.htm Secondary Sources Ebscohost and other databases.

Understanding Bias in Sources: http://www.edteck.com/dbq/more/analyzing.htm