Students will report on the dropping of the bomb as journalists.
Materials:
- Testimonies of the crewmen of the Enola Gay and survivors of Hiroshima
- President Truman’s radio address about Hiroshima on August 6, 1945
- The article “Oppenheimer’s Speech to Los Alamos Scientists” in The Manhattan Project by Cynthia Kelly
Assignment:
Students will assume the role of a newspaper reporter assigned to the story of Hiroshima soon after the atomic bomb was dropped. They will write an in-depth article about the bombing and its aftermath, including the devastation it caused and the Japanese surrender. Like good reporters, students should try to be impartial by including quotes and perspectives on the use of the bomb from the United States government, members of the U.S. military, scientists on the Manhattan Project, and survivors of Hiroshima.
If there is interest, students may also wish to turn the story into a radio broadcast or television news story in which the news anchors interview representatives of each of these four groups.