A Series of Lessons on Los Alamos, NM, WWII Heritage City

1943 Los Alamos Project Main Gate.

Los Alamos National Laboratory

A series of Teaching with Historic Places lessons from the World War II Heritage Cities Lesson Collection

Introduction

All three lessons, and the culminating lesson, support the development of understanding the significance of Los Alamos County, New Mexico as an American World War II Heritage City: its impacts to home front efforts with its contributions to The Manhattan Project (Los Alamos County), and the many civilians and service members who contributed to the work. The lessons highlight specific contributions but connect to larger themes and understandings of the U.S. home front during wartime.

The standards listed beneath the lesson links are a collection of standards covered in the lesson collection. Objectives for each lesson, materials, and resources are listed within the lesson.

The first three lessons listed can be taught individually or collectively, in any order. The final lesson is to support students in combining learning across the three lessons, and/or comparison to other World War II home front cities in a culminating activity.

Lessons (with World War II home front topics):

The Development of the Manhattan Project in Los Alamos County

• The Manhattan Project at Los Alamos, displacement of persons of Hispanic and Pueblo ancestry, Special Engineering Detachment (SEDs), home front city development, General Leslie Groves, Dr. J. R. Oppenheimer

Historical Perspectives on the Atomic Bomb created at Los Alamos

• The Manhattan Project at Los Alamos, Dr. J. R. Oppenheimer, The Trinity Site and test, Japanese perspective from Hiroshima, post-war impacts of The Manhattan Project

Native American Home Front Contributions in Los Alamos County, New Mexico

• Native American history, Pueblo art and culture, women’s history, women in STEM, The Manhattan Project

Los Alamos County, New Mexico: Comparing and Connecting World War II home fronts

Positioning These Lessons in the Curriculum

Time period: World War II 

Topics: World War II, women’s history, African American history, workforce migration, science and technology 

United States History Standards for Grades 5-12 

This lesson relates to the following National Standards for History from the UCLA National Center for History in the Schools: 

Era 8: The Great Depression and World War II (1929-1945) 

Standard 3: The causes and course of World War II, the character of the war at home and abroad, and its reshaping of the U.S. role in world affairs 

Curriculum Standards for Social Studies 

This lesson relates to the following Curriculum Standards themes for Social Studies from the National Council for the Social Studies: 

Theme 2: Time, Continuity, and Change 

Theme 5: Individuals, Groups, and Institutions  

Theme 8: Science, Technology, and Society 

Theme 9: Global Connections 

Relevant Common Core Standards  

These lessons relates to the following Common Core English and Language Arts Standards for History and Social Studies for middle and high school students: 

Key Ideas and Details 

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-12.1 
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY. RH. 6-12.2 

Craft and Structure 

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-12.4 

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas 

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-12.7 
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-12.9 

Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity 

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH. 6-12.10