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Last updated: February 20, 2025
Article
A Series of Lessons on Tempe, Arizona, WWII Heritage City
A series of Teaching with Historic Places lessons from the World War II Heritage Cities Lesson Collection.
Tempe History Museum
Introduction
The three lessons, and culminating fourth lesson, support the development of understanding the significance of Tempe, Arizona designated as an American World War II Heritage City. Highlights of the first two listed lessons include military training and education in Tempe, along with civilian contributions and volunteerism. The third lesson shares on the Papago Park prisoner-of-war camp in Tempe, which held mostly German service members and became well-known for a large prisoner escape. All lessons highlight specific contributions but connect to larger themes and understandings of the U.S. home front during wartime. A mix of primary and secondary sources are used, along with photos and media.
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.
The standards listed beneath the lesson links are a collection of standards covered in the lesson collection. The lessons have been aligned to national English Language Arts and Social Studies standards and topics, as well as to the Arizona English Language Arts and History and Social Science standards. Objectives for each lesson, materials, and resources are listed within the lesson.
Lessons (with World War II home front topics):
Military Training and Impacts on Higher Education on the Home Front in Tempe, Arizona, World War II Heritage City
- Military training, Army Air Corps, higher education, wartime careers
Civilian Contributions and Volunteerism in Tempe, Arizona, World War II Heritage City
- Agriculture, military service center, volunteerism, war bonds, youth involvement, civilian defense
Papago Park Prisoner-of-War Camp in Tempe, Arizona, World War II Heritage City
-
Prisoner-of-War (POW) Camps, POW escape, oral histories, civilian perspectives
Tempe, Arizona: Comparing and Connecting WWII Home Front Cities
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 relate to the following Common Core English and Language Arts Standards for middle and high school students:
Key Ideas and Details
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY. RH. 6-12.2
Craft and Structure
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-12.7
Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH. 6-12.10
Writing
Text Types and Purposes
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.2
Research to Build and Present Knowledge
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6-12.7
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6-12.8
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6-12.9
Range of Writing
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6-12.10
Arizona English Language Arts Anchor Standards
The lessons align to and/or contribute to understandings of the following grades 6-12 anchor standards, defined by the Arizona History and Social Science Standards (as of 2016):
Reading
Key Ideas and Details [R.1, R.2, R.3]
Craft and Structure [R.4, R.5, R.6]
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas [R.7, R.8, R.9]
Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity [R.10]
Writing
Research to Build and Present Knowledge [W.7, W.8, W.9]
Range of Writing [W.10]
Arizona History and Social Science Standards
The lessons align to and/or contribute to understandings of the following standards, defined by the Arizona History and Social Science Standards (2018):
7th Grade Integrated Global Studies
Disciplinary Skills and Processes [7.SP1 - 7.SP4]
Civics [7.C2.1, 7.C4.1, 7.C4.4]
Geography [7.G2.1, 7.G2.2, 7.G4.1, 7.G4.4]
History [7.H1.1-2, 7.H2.1-2, 7.H3.2-5, 7.H4.1-2]
8th Grade – Citizenship and Civic Engagement in Today’s Society
Although World War II is not listed as a specific example within standards, themes of citizenship and civic engagement from Lesson 3 and Lesson 4 can be tied to making connections to how historical issues have resulted in civic engagement, changes in society, and social movements.
High School Social Studies [Civics / Government, United States / Arizona History, Geography, World History]
Disciplinary Skills and Processes [HS.SP1-HS.SP4]
Civics [HS.C1.4, HS.C2.4, HS.C2.6, HS.C4.5]
Geography [HS.G3.2, HS.G3.5, HS.G4.2]
History [HS.H1.6, HS.H2.1-4, HS.H3.1, HS.H3.4, HS.H3.5, HS.H4.1-4]
Photo Gallery
Tempe, AZ: World War II Herita...
17 Images
This album accompanies Tempe, AZ: A World War II Heritage City Lesson Collection. They are part of Teaching with Historic Places.
For more resources, explore Teaching with Historic Places World War II Lesson. For more Heritage City Lessons, explore the World War II Heritage City Lesson Page.
The lesson series was written by Sarah Nestor Lane, an educator and consultant with the Cultural Resources Office of Interpretation and Education, funded by the National Council on Public History's cooperative agreement with the National Park Service.