ALEX Learning Activity Resources

   View Standards     Standard(s): [SS2010] USS6 (6) 8 :

8 ) Describe how the United States' role in the Cold War influenced domestic and international events.

•  Describing the origin and meaning of the Iron Curtain and communism

•  Recognizing how the Cold War conflict manifested itself through sports

Examples: Olympic Games, international chess tournaments, Ping-Pong diplomacy

•  Identifying strategic diplomatic initiatives that intensified the Cold War, including the policies of Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and John F. Kennedy

Examples: trade embargoes, Marshall Plan, arms race, Berlin blockade and airlift, Berlin Wall, mutually assured destruction, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Warsaw Pact, Cuban missile crisis, Bay of Pigs invasion

•  Identifying how Cold War tensions resulted in armed conflict

Examples: Korean Conflict, Vietnam War, proxy wars

•  Describing the impact of the Cold War on technological innovations

Examples: Sputnik; space race; weapons of mass destruction; accessibility of microwave ovens, calculators, and computers

•  Recognizing Alabama's role in the Cold War (Alabama)

Examples: rocket production at Redstone Arsenal, helicopter training at Fort Rucker (Alabama)

•  Assessing effects of the end of the Cold War Era

Examples: policies of Mikhail Gorbachev; collapse of the Soviet Union; Ronald W. Reagan's foreign policies, including the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI or Star Wars)

In this learning activity, students will watch a video of the original Apollo 11 moon landing from July 16, 1969. The teacher will read aloud an article titled "This is How the Space Race Changed the Great Power Rivalry Forever" from The National Interest. After reading the article, the teacher will lead a brief discussion about the rivalry between Russia and the United States referred to as the "Space Race".  Students will then break off into groups and conduct a mock television interview with the three astronauts from Apollo 11.  

This activity results from the ALEX Resource Development Summit.