Second World War · 1942-1945

1945: the atomic bombs and Japan's surrender

In August 1945 the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the Soviet Union declared war on Japan. Japan surrendered weeks later. Students trace the secret Manhattan Project and the path to surrender, and listen to the voices of survivors.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
50 minutes
Ages
13–16
On the map
3 steps, AD 1945
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

In August 1945 the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the Soviet Union declared war on Japan. Japan surrendered weeks later. Students trace the secret Manhattan Project and the path to surrender, and listen to the voices of survivors.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Explain what the Manhattan Project was and where the first atomic bomb was tested.
  • Describe the events of August 1945 that led to Japan's surrender.
  • Compare the different ways historians and survivors explain and remember the bombings.
2

Explore the map

15 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 1945

A secret laboratory

Open the map in 1945 and find New Mexico in the south-west of the United States. Ask the atlas: "What was Los Alamos?" Why would scientists work in such a remote place?

Open this view on the map
b

AD 1945

Across the Pacific

Zoom out and find the Mariana Islands, then Japan. In 1945 American bombers flew from Tinian to Japan and back. Estimate the distance.

Open this view on the map
c

AD 1945

Japan in 1945

Zoom in on Japan. The 1945 map shows it under American occupation. Find Hiroshima, Nagasaki and Tokyo. Ask the atlas: "What is the Hiroshima Peace Memorial?"

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

15 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. Scientists in the Manhattan Project feared that Germany might build the bomb first. How did that fear shape their work?
  2. Survivors of the bombings are called hibakusha. Why are their stories so important?
  3. Historians still disagree about why Japan surrendered: the bombs, the Soviet attack of 8-9 August, or both. What evidence would you need to decide?
  4. After 1945 several countries built nuclear weapons. How did the bomb change the way great powers dealt with each other?
  5. Hiroshima keeps the ruined Atomic Bomb Dome standing. Why keep a ruin instead of rebuilding?
4

Game round

10 min

Rule History has no ruler from 1945. If you play, choose Abraham Lincoln, the closest in time, and discuss how a leader weighs the cost of ending a war. Then look at the real decision-makers of 1945: President Truman and Japan's leaders, including Emperor Hirohito.

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

€19 per month unlocks every worksheet, every live lesson and the class workspace. The free lesson prints without a subscription.