AbombActivities

=Should we have dropped the Atomic Bomb? = Directions: Watch some of the following videos and read/mark-up some of the following documents to answer the question, "Should we have dropped the Atomic Bomb." Use evidence from the sources below to support your argument.

Atomic Bomb Videos [[image:Abomb.jpg width="64" height="64" align="right" link="http://www.atomicarchive.com/Movies/index_movies.shtml"]]
Watch some of the test videos to get an idea of what Manhattan Project scientists knew about their weapon. There are links to several videos all on this link. Look at several by clicking the back arrow. Click back twice to return the this wiki page. []

Documents from a variety of sources
Read and mark up ONE of the following texts then email it to your teacher: 1. To mark up texts, open the document, save it to your personal account with the given file name PLUS YOUR LAST NAME and PERIOD (ex. Trinity Test_Alvarez.Johnson P2). Return to the wiki page (back arrow) and re-open the file as a word document. 2. Next go to the "Tools" tab at the top of the page, scroll down to "track changes" and turn on this tool. As you read, insert your cursor and type comments where you would normally write in the margins. Your comments will be red and underlined. Highlight (using the toolbar at the top of the page) anything you would normally highlight. 3. Save when you are done, open your personal email account, and send the marked-up text to your teacher’s email marked on the board at front.

//Should it have been dropped?// //Trinity Test,// account by L.W. Alvarez //Trinity Test,// Top Secret doc. by Col. Warren //Official Bombing Order//, July 25, 1945 //Harry S. Truman's Diary,// July 25, 1945 //Was it Necessary?//

//Interview by Leo Szilard "President Truman Did Not Understand"// [|http://members.peak.org/~danneng/decision/usnews.html] //Testimony of Hiroshi Sawachika // []
 * Honors level** (extra credit for CP): Go to one (or both) of the following links and read more about Truman's decision to drop the bomb:

You decide what the U.S. should have done
Fill out this graphic organizer with justifications (reasons) why we //should// or //should NOT// have dropped the bomb, AND suggest other solutions to ending the war in the Pacific.

Project Extension and Grading:
The above T chart can be used by students for participation in a Mock Truman Advisory Table (a Socratic seminar-type activity). Afterwords, have all students write a paragraph about what //each// student would do if she were Truman and had to make a decision about the atomic bomb.

Here's the rubric for the 4 parts of your grade.