Social Studies Curriculum

United States History

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World War II

Three weeks (through Week 6)

Enduring Understandings

The students will understand:

1. Global war is the result of changing political, economic, and social interests, as well as technological development.
2. Mass media and the use of propaganda is a major factor in shaping people’s opinions.
3. A dominant culture can severely limit the civil liberties of a minority culture.
4. The long-term effects of World War II were profound and far-reaching.

Essential Questions

1. How do economic interests contribute to global war?
2. How do world leaders and nations affect global war?
3. How does technological development contribute to the character and outcomes of WWII?
4. How is propaganda used in global war?
5. Why and how does a society limit rights of its citizens, especially in times of war?
6. How does genocide occur and how does it affect the world?
7. What are the outcomes of the war?
8. How does a culture become a dominant culture?

Objectives

• Trace the rise of Japanese imperialism and the growth of totalitarian dictatorships in Europe.
• Examine the policy of appeasement in Europe and the Pacific. 
• Examine the role of FDR’s leadership during this period.
• Analyze the progress of WWII:  theaters, technological and scientific innovations, diplomatic maneuvering, and significant individuals. 
• Examine how the home front was organized including:  increasing productivity, war bonds, and conservation of resources.
• Trace the changing roles of women and minorities.
• Examine the internments of the Japanese and Aleut Americans. 
• Assess the use and effectiveness of propaganda by all sides.
• Analyze Alaska’s strategic role in WWII. 
• Evaluate Truman’s decision and significance of using atomic weapons.
• Compare the consequences of unconditional surrender on Germany and Japan.
• Investigate the Holocaust and global repercussions. 
• Analyze maps of the world before and after the war.
• Define essential terms including:  appeasement, non-aggression pact, kristallnacht, blitzkrieg, Lend-Lease Act, Selective Training and Service Act, war bonds, Axis Powers, Allied Powers, Holocaust, genocide, pogrom, concentration camps, internment camp, Issei, Nisei, Pearl Harbor, War Production Board, rationing, D-Day, kamikaze, Manhattan Project, atomic bomb, Yalta Conference, Nuremburg Trials, Congress of Racial Equality, Japanese-American Citizens league, fascism, Nazism, V-E Day, V-J Day, unconditional surrender, final solution, code talkers, Triple Nickels (555), Tuskegee Airmen, 100th/442, ENIGMA, WAVS, WACS, totalitarian, resistance movement
• Reflect on the involvement of the following:  Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Josef Stalin, General Tojo, Emperor Hirohito, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Francisco Franco, Harry S Truman, Neville Chamberlain, Winston Churchill, Dwight Eisenhower, George Marshall, Douglas MacArthur, George Patton, Jimmy Doolittle, Chester Nimitz, J. Robert Oppenheimer, Albert Einstein, Rosie the Riveter.

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