Depression
Depression is a known cause that can eventually lead to war at any point in history. Specifically for World War II, the widespread depression brought countries to a hault and forced society to look for any option to get out of their slump. Our lessons are focused around informing students about the economy that brought about World War II, as well as show them which countries were dealing with this situation, and how each country handled it.
Geography: The reason for choosing the Great Depression as one of our lessons is that there are reasons every country enters into war. The United States was just coming out of a huge economic collapse as was Germany for other reasons. We wanted to make the connection that this is a cause for all wars. If a country is in economic crises because of sanctions, the collapse of infrastructures, or war debts, countries have to get themselves out of ruins by any means necessary. Our group identified this is one cause for war to begin. In leu of the Great Depression, the United States could not afford to involve itself in a war on foreign soil. As tensions mounted, the United States had to decide whether it would enter the war or remain in isolation. The lesson plan that I chose asks students to decide if they are going to remain isolationists or travel across oceans and intervene in the war. Students will debate other groups who have formed the opposite opinion of them and use a power point presentation to display facts that support their point-of-view.
World History:
The students will be shown a short two minute video clip titled, "The Road to WWII: The Great Depression and Foreign Affairs" as an introduction to this lesson. Students will then be shown a brieft PowerPoint presentation discussion the effects the Great Depression had on all areas of the world as well as the effects that it had on the start of World War II. The students will then pair with their neighbor to complete a question of the day. The question of the day is, "Was the Great Depression a leading cause of World War II, please explain and support your answer with details?" Once they answer this question with their partner, they will as a pair, pair and share with atleast three other pairs. Once they have completed this, they will return to their seats and complete a 3-2-1 activity on a seperate sheet of paper. They will need to identify 3 reasons the Great Depression lead to WWII, 2 pieces of supporting evidence from the lecture or video, and 1, 2-3 sentence summary what information they have learned through this lesson.
American History:
The students will be shown a PowerPoint presentation on the Great Depression occurring in the United States due to the crash of the Stock Market. Students will gain knowledge on how the U.S. dealt with this economic downfall and how they brought themselves out of it due to aiding European countries in their war efforts against Germany. Students will be asked to choose whether aiding these countries was the right thing to do, or if we should have remained in isolation. Students will track their prior knowledge, questions, and what they have learned using a KWL chart.
Economics:
The students will be collaborating in groups to manage two vastly different household budgets. The students will be allotted 1,000 dollars a week for the first budget and 350 dollars a week for the second budget. The students will be required to plan a working household for four using both budgets. Going from the 1,000 dollar budget to the 350 dollar budget will help simulate the frustration that people experienced during the Great Depression. This activity will help explain what the Germans went through during the the Great Depression and why they were easily drawn into participating in World War II after the promise of a better life. In closing the students will be left with the following question: "What would you do in the same situation?" for a journal prompt.
Geography: The reason for choosing the Great Depression as one of our lessons is that there are reasons every country enters into war. The United States was just coming out of a huge economic collapse as was Germany for other reasons. We wanted to make the connection that this is a cause for all wars. If a country is in economic crises because of sanctions, the collapse of infrastructures, or war debts, countries have to get themselves out of ruins by any means necessary. Our group identified this is one cause for war to begin. In leu of the Great Depression, the United States could not afford to involve itself in a war on foreign soil. As tensions mounted, the United States had to decide whether it would enter the war or remain in isolation. The lesson plan that I chose asks students to decide if they are going to remain isolationists or travel across oceans and intervene in the war. Students will debate other groups who have formed the opposite opinion of them and use a power point presentation to display facts that support their point-of-view.
World History:
The students will be shown a short two minute video clip titled, "The Road to WWII: The Great Depression and Foreign Affairs" as an introduction to this lesson. Students will then be shown a brieft PowerPoint presentation discussion the effects the Great Depression had on all areas of the world as well as the effects that it had on the start of World War II. The students will then pair with their neighbor to complete a question of the day. The question of the day is, "Was the Great Depression a leading cause of World War II, please explain and support your answer with details?" Once they answer this question with their partner, they will as a pair, pair and share with atleast three other pairs. Once they have completed this, they will return to their seats and complete a 3-2-1 activity on a seperate sheet of paper. They will need to identify 3 reasons the Great Depression lead to WWII, 2 pieces of supporting evidence from the lecture or video, and 1, 2-3 sentence summary what information they have learned through this lesson.
American History:
The students will be shown a PowerPoint presentation on the Great Depression occurring in the United States due to the crash of the Stock Market. Students will gain knowledge on how the U.S. dealt with this economic downfall and how they brought themselves out of it due to aiding European countries in their war efforts against Germany. Students will be asked to choose whether aiding these countries was the right thing to do, or if we should have remained in isolation. Students will track their prior knowledge, questions, and what they have learned using a KWL chart.
Economics:
The students will be collaborating in groups to manage two vastly different household budgets. The students will be allotted 1,000 dollars a week for the first budget and 350 dollars a week for the second budget. The students will be required to plan a working household for four using both budgets. Going from the 1,000 dollar budget to the 350 dollar budget will help simulate the frustration that people experienced during the Great Depression. This activity will help explain what the Germans went through during the the Great Depression and why they were easily drawn into participating in World War II after the promise of a better life. In closing the students will be left with the following question: "What would you do in the same situation?" for a journal prompt.