Depression and World War IIfor High School American History

By: Angela Skelonc

ED 439

Goal

The goal is to have students come to a better understanding of the Great Depression and World War II through the use of interactive websites.

Objectives

Explain how events in one region of the world can have global implications, seen through the Great Depression and World War II.

Explain whether the reforms of the New Deal were radical or conservative.

Analyze why the United States dropped two atom bombs on Japan at the end of World War II.

Define what the WPA was.

Summarize the major events for the United States beginning at 1925 and ending at 1946.

American Heritage

Website: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/fsowhome.html

Activity: After looking at the pictures from the Depression, write in your journal a description of what your life would be like if you lived during this era.

American Heritage

Website: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/fedtp/fthome.html

Activity: Take a scene from one of the plays performed during the Depression and put it in the setting of the 21st Century in Dayton, OH.

American Heritage

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/afctshtml/tshome.html

Activity: Listen to 3 songs from the website and on a piece of paper tell me what songs you listened to and what they have in common.

American Heritage

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/wpaintro/wpahome.html

Activity: Pick a person from this website and write a paper about this person’s life experiences.

American Heritage

http://www.wizvax.net/nisk_hs/departments/social/fdr_html/FDRcartoons.html

Activity: Print a cartoon from this website and write an essay analyzing the cartoon.

People in Societies

http://www.nara.gov/exhall/people/prelude.html

Activity: Write a one page paper about the American Volunteer Group.

People in Societies

http://www.nara.gov/exhall/people/women.html

Activity: List 5 women who fought in World War II: include what positions they held and whether they died in action or not.

People In Societies

http://www.nara.gov/exhall/powers/powers.html

Activity: Make your own World War II poster that motivates patriotism and encourages Americans to participate in the war efforts.

People in Societies

http://rs6.loc.gov/wpaintro/wpahome.html

Activity: Write an essay on the Federal Writers’ Project.

People in Societies

http://xroads.virginia.edu/~1930s/DISPLAY/displayfront.html

Activity: Create a timeline marking the advancements of this time period.

World Interactions

http://pubweb.parc.xerox.com/map

Activity: Print the map and color in the countries that participated in World War II.

World Interactions

http://demography.anu.edu.au/VirtualLibrary/

Activity: Compare and Contrast the Demographic and the Population for the United States and Germany during 1943 and the year 2000.

World Interactions

http://userpage.chemie.fu-berlin.de/adressen/berlin.html

Activity: Write a paper on the history of Berlin, Germany and why it was significant in World War II and the following years.

                                                                                                                        

World Interactions

http://wxweb.msu.edu/weather/

Activity: Write an essay explaining the weather conditions in Europe and how it could have affected the outcome of battles fought there.

World Interactions

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/destinations/Charleston/Patriots_Point_Naval_and_Maritime_Museum.html

Activity: Take a virtual tour of the World War II ships at the Maritime Museum.

Decision Making & Resources

http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/edu/RSE/RSEyellow/gnb.html

Activity: Go online and do the simulation.

Decision Making & Resources

http://www.wsjclassroomedition.com/wsj_stocks.htm

Activity: Play this game on picking stocks and write about your success and difficulties of picking, and tell me how picking the wrong stock could have played a role in the Black Tuesday.

Decision Making & Resources

http://www.federalreserve.gov/

Activity: Explain the importance of the Federal Reserve.

Decision Making & Resources

http://ecedweb.unomaha.edu/ec-cncps.htm

Activity: Pick a term from each category and write a paragraph explaining what it is and why it is significant.

                                  

Decision Making & Resources

http://www.worldbank.org/

Activity: Write an a paper on the World Bank; telling what it is, what it does, does it protect the nation’s finances, what is its most important job.

Democratic Processes

http://www.senate.gov/learning/index.cfm

Activity: From this website write an essay on what the Senate does and the role it played during the Great Depression and World War II.

Democratic Processes

http://www.dol.gov/

Activity: Research the Department of Labor and list what services this department provides for Americans.

Democratic Processes

http://europa.eu.int/abc/governments/germany/index_en.html

Activity: Write a paper explaining the government of Germany and if World War II made any changes to this government system.

Democratic Processes

http://europa.eu.int/abc/governments/uk/index_en.html

Activity: Explain the differences between the United Kingdom’s government and the United States’ government.

Democratic Processes

http://www.gov.ch/

Activity: Write an essay on Switzerland’s position during World War II and why they took this position.

Citizenship Rights & Responsibilities

http://www.undcp.org/unlinks.html

Activity: A responsibility of citizens is to be informed, so become familiar with the United Nations.

Citizenship Rights & Responsibilities

http://lcweb.loc.gov/global/state/stategov.html

Activity: Pick a branch of government either local or state that you would like to work in. In a short paper explain what position you would like and why.

Citizenship Rights & Responsibilities

http://www.citizen.org/

Activity: Pick some government related issue and find out more information about it on this website.

Citizenship Rights & Responsibilities

http://www.epn.org/whatsnew/subjects/foreign-1.html

Activity: Write a brief description of two current events dealing with foreign policy.

Citizenship Rights & Responsibilities

http://www.webactive.com/

Activity: From this website tell me if both boys and girls have to sign up for the draft and at what age you have to do this.

                                                                                                                                                

Quick Review

You have seen how the events of the Great Depression and World War II were affected by American Heritage People in Societies (America) World Interactions Decision Making & Resources Democratic Processes Citizenship Rights & Responsibilities

Conclusion

Most students do not understand the hardships that occurred during the Great Depression and the World War II eras.By looking at these previous websites students should have been able to experience personally a bit of history.The people, the history of the people, the interaction of the world, the decision making and resources of the government all affect the outcome of an event.Students will understand that they have a responsibility as citizens to be involved and informed about their government and worldwide events.