Advising President Truman on Dropping the Atomic Bombs

Introduction

On August 6th, 1945, the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan. Three days later, on August 9th, the second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. Within two days, Japan surrendered to the United States. Though the United States achieved victory, it came at a cost. The atomic bombs caused great destruction. The bombs killed many people, and those who survived suffered devastating effects.

Task

Pretend that you are a presidential advisor in the Truman administration. Neither bomb has been dropped yet. Your task is to search through the different documents, videos, and websites provided in order to create a briefing for President Truman. Some of these documents may be from the "future" or after the dropping of the bombs, but you can still reference the information as "possible effects" in your briefing.

In your briefing you must:

1. Make a recomendation to either drop the atomic bombs or not to drop the bombs.

2. You must support your recomendation with reasons.

3. These reasons should be supported with facts from the documents.

History is in your hands. Good luck.

Process

1. First, you must read, watch, and gather facts.

2. For each of the following sources, create a mini pro-con t-chart stating the pros and cons of dropping the atomic bombs.

Reccomendations by Scientists

President Truman's Speech (Video)

Szilard Petition

Hiroshima Atomic Bomb and Aftermath (Video)

Dr. Szilard's Interview

Britain Supports the Bomb

Leaflet Dropped over Japan

Potsdam Conference

3. Craft a two paragraph briefing in which you make a recommendation to either drop the atomic bombs or not drop the bombs. Support your recommendation with reasons supported by facts from the documents. Reference the "Evaluation" tab to see what standards you must meet in your briefing.

Evaluation

Rubric for Webquest

CATEGORY	4	3	2	1
Briefing Organization	Information is very organized with 2 well-constructed paragraphs.	Information is organized with well-constructed paragraphs.	Information is organized, but paragraphs are not well-constructed.	The information is not organized or well-constructed.
Briefing Sources	4 of the 8 sources are referenced in the briefing.	3 of the 8 sources are referenced in the briefing.	2 of the 8 sources are referenced in the briefing.	1 or none of the sources are referenced in the briefing.
Briefing Quality of Information	Information clearly relates to the main topic. It includes several supporting details and/or examples.	Information clearly relates to the main topic. It provides 1-2 supporting details and/or examples.	Information clearly relates to the main topic. No details and/or examples are given.	Information has little or nothing to do with the main topic.
Briefing Mechanics	No grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors.	Almost no grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors	A few grammatical spelling, or punctuation errors.	Many grammatical, spelling, or punctuation errors.
Effort Displayed Throughout Webquest	Student was on task and working efficiently throughout the whole activity.	Student was on task for most of the activity.	Student was off task for most of the activity.	Student was completely off task throughout the whole activity.
Current Event Article	Article's topic is appropriate, and the summary of each argument is very well written.	Article topic is appropriate, and the summaries of each argument meet the requirements.	Article topic is okay, and the summaries of each argument barely meet the reuirements.	The article topic is inappropriate, and the summaries of each article are poorly written.

Conclusion

Dropping the atomic bombs was not an easy decision. Though Truman knew dropping the bombs would save American soldiers' lives, he also knew the atomic bombs would cause great devastation. The threat and potential of nuclear power would be brought to the world's stage.

Challenging decisions are made everyday in today's world as well. Find a newspaper article on a controversial current event and write two paragraphs - one paragraph describing one side of the controversey and one describing the other side.