Whenever we talk about the atom, the topic of the atomic bomb comes up. This year, I spent a few days talking about it and showed some video clips as well. We read Einstein’s letter to FDR, as well as his response. Reading the letters was a great activity, we talked about letter writing, formal vs friendly, typing, zip codes, WW2, the Manhattan Project, the Cold War, and the kids were really interested. I ended with two video clips: one was “Duck and Cover” and the other was a graphic representation of all the bombs that have been detonated starting with the Trinity Test.
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Thank you, thank you, thank you!
We’re studying Europe. After watching a short video on the history of Europe, my 9 year old asked me what a cold war was. That lead to a discussion about atomic bombs.
Later that same day I asked my 7 and 9 year old to journal about their goals for the month of January. My 7 year old son included the fact that he would like to learn “how they make bums.” He of course meant, “bombs.” (He also wrote that he is going to study the phases of the moon, but he wrote it in such a way that it can be read as “the phases of the mom.” That’s a topic for another date.:))
What a perfect excuse to study the parts of an atom again.
Anyway, this post is a HUGE help to my overall cause. Thank you!
So glad that is was helpful and the timing was right!! Kids found this unit very interesting. I love to weave history into science.
I teach 6th grade science. I think this would be a great lesson for my science students and ELA teacher. I am going to suggest that we consider teaching this together. Thanks for the idea.
thank you!