ALEX Learning Activity

In this activity, students will use De Bono’s Six Thinking Hats, a problem-solving process, to discuss and evaluate the United States’ decision to use atomic weapons on Japan during World War II. This activity will allow students to think critically about this big decision while looking at it through a multitude of perspectives. By the end of this activity, the students will come to a decision as to what they would have done if they were to make this difficult decision.

This activity was created as a result of the DLCS COS Resource Development Summit.

Students will identify the reasons and consequences for the United States’ use of the atomic bomb.

Students will discuss the decision to drop the atomic bomb.

Students will discuss and apply the problem solving process.

As a culminating activity to a lesson on how the Pacific side of World War II was concluded with the dropping of atomic weapons on Japan, students will now participate in an engaging problem-solving activity in which they will weigh the reasons and consequences for using such weaponry, determining their own decisions on the matter.

Before the problem-solving activity, set a timer for three minutes and have students, either individually or with a partner, list out as many reasons and consequences they can think of for using the atomic bomb. (A simple T-chart could be created for this informal process.) Once the time is up, the students can either share some of their reasons, or they can simply save their work and use the lists to help them throughout the problem-solving process.

Now that the students have begun thinking about potential consequences and reasons for using the atomic bomb, the teacher will introduce the Six Thinking Hats problem-solving technique. The teacher could print this reference image for each student or have it up on the board for a visual while explaining the technique: https://goo.gl/images/jxxrpL.

Once the students understand what this technique is and how it helps solve problems, the teacher can then divide up the students into six groups and assign each group a particular “hat”, or perspective, in which to view the decision of dropping the atomic bomb. 

Allow students approximately five minutes to discuss their perspective with their group, then bring the students to a whole group. For example, the group with the "white hat" will spend five minutes making a list and discussing as many facts as they can that they know to be true about what was going on at this time during the war. 

A delegate from each “hat” will be given time to share his/her group’s perspective with the class. While each group is sharing, the class will be listening to their thoughts on the decision to drop the atomic bomb, shedding new light on their perspective on why this decision was made.

After each group has had a chance to share, the teacher can have the students write a quick reflection piece on the conversation answering the following:

1.  If you were in charge of making the decision to drop the atomic bomb, would you? If you would not, then be sure to offer the alternative decision you would have made. Be sure to explain your thinking fully.
2. How did the problem-solving process today help you as a learner?
3. How did our problem-solving today help you to better understand the reasons the United States used the atomic bomb?
4. How did our problem-solving today help you to better understand the consequences for using the atomic bomb?

Formative Assessments:

• Teacher observations/notes during the class discussions.
• Students' lists created with reasons and consequences for dropping the atomic bomb.
• Student "exit ticket" reflection (list of questions provided above written on loose leaf paper).

• Students must have an understanding of the ending of WWII, including Japanese-American relations, in order to have a meaningful problem-solving discussion.
• Students do not necessarily have to be familiar with De Bono's Six Thinking Hats, but the teacher must understand each "hat" and its role in the problem-solving process.

Differentiation can occur when assigning particular students particular “hats”. For example, the “blue hat” is the “Meta hat” in which the students in that group are actively looking for trends and analyzing the conversation. This hat requires a deeper understanding than, for example, the “White hat” which simply presents facts. While each "hat" in the problem-solving process is different, they all hold an important job in the process.

Students do not have to be split into six even groups. There are many variations on how to utilize De Bono's Six Thinking Hats to get students to think critically and problem solve including:

• Each student is given a paper with every "hat" listed, having to fill it in for him/herself.
• Assign groups to the Red, White, Blue, Black, and Yellow hat, reserving the Green hat for a whole group discussion on providing ideas and creative solutions as a whole.
• Students could problem solve virtually, sharing their perspectives through a Google Doc, Google Keep, or even note.ly.

De Bono's Six Thinking Hats is a way to scaffold the problem-solving process in a way that is easily broken down for students to understand and utilize. Each "hat" represents a different phase of the problem-solving process.

As found on https://www.cls.utk.edu/pdf/ls/Week3_Lesson21.pdf, the problem-solving process is presented in six simple steps. In the following, I have illustrated which of the "Six Thinking Hats" aligns with its corresponding problem-solving step:

STEP 1- Identify the problem (White, Red hats)

STEP 2- Analyze the problem (Yellow, Black hats)

STEP 3- Create potential solutions (Green hat)

STEP 4- Plan solution (Green hat)

STEP 5- Implement solution

STEP 6- Evaluate solution (Blue hat)