Students should watch segments of Episodes 6 and 8 if they are examining fear in the 1950's, segments of Episode 12 if they are looking at the 1960's and Episode 21 Star Wars if they are examining fear in the 1980's. When the students return to their groups of threes, they should report on the motives for public fear in their decades and the actions taken in response. Each group should prepare a statement summarizing the data and analyzing how the fears were similar or different in each of the decades. The Nuclear Age Have students read the Memorandum on Chernobyl Construction, February 21, 1979. Have students research the lasting effects of the accident at Chernobyl.
Students can compare Chernobyl with the accident at Three Mile Island.
They can develop a presentation or a position paper on the ramifications of these nuclear accidents.