Teacher's Guide
Education Resources:
HOMEFRONT: South Dakota Stories HOMEFRONT and WAR stories that were shared with us; we are honored to share them with you.
Local Heroes Includes personal stories about the depression era and WWII to the 211th Engineering Company's recent tour in Afghanistan.
A.
Things To Do
1.
Print out the guided notes and distribute to class.
2.
Watch Dakota Pathways Episode #17 and have the students
complete the guided notes.
3.
Go online and complete the map “Activity” and “Challenge” quiz.
4.
Student glossary included.
5.
There is a list of related links that would be helpful for
student research projects.
6.
Print out the crossword puzzle and distribute to class.
7.
Class Activity – Desperate Move
8.
Standards
1. Guided Notes
“Guided Notes” - Teacher
“Guided Notes” - Student
2. Online
Episode of Dakota Pathways Episode #17
Episode link.
3. Online
games
a.
Have the students access the main page of Dakota Pathways. The
card matching game is found by clicking “Activity”.
b.
Have the students access the main page of Dakota Pathways. The
online quiz is found by clicking “Challenge”.
4. Glossary
a.
Have the students access the main page of Dakota Pathways. We
have included a student glossary.
5. Links
a.
We have included an extensive list of
related sites. We preview each related site looking for adult
content. Unfortunately, we cannot find all of the inappropriate
material on an individual site. We include links we feel may be of
use in the education setting. Each site has individual rights and
disclaimers. Please call us Toll Free at 1-800-456-0766 if you find
any questionable content and we will remove it. If we have
unintentionally linked to your site and we are not allowed to please
contact us at 1-800-456-0766 and we will remove the link. Thank you.
6. Crossword Puzzle
a.
The students may use the vocabulary words and definitions for
the crossword puzzle if they need help.
Crossword -
Solved
Crossword - Blank
7. Class
Activity – Desperate Move
Introduction:
During WWII the
Japanese military sent thousands of large balloons toward the United
States. The large balloons carried bombs and fire starting
devices. The distance between the two countries was approximately
6,000 miles. The Japanese military had to deal with storms, wind,
distance and the United States military shooting down the balloons.
Amazingly, the Japanese had some success even though there were so
many variables working against them. Check out the sites below for
some war balloon information.
- War Balloon Information
- War
Balloon Info (US Air Force)
Your
students need to realize the success of this project was based on
the large number of balloons released. It would have been a waste
of time for the Japanese military to send 10 – 20 balloons toward
the United States. They needed to send thousands of balloons to
account for the poor success rate. The following activity will
allow your students to see first had how a poor success rate can be
masked by a high number of attempts.
Your students
will conduct an experiment in which they will release balloons
similar to the balloons released by the Japanese during WWII. Below
you will find basic directions to complete the activity. Feel free
to make changes to meet the needs of your class. You may want the
kids to dress in WW II military attire or you may want to make cool
looking cutouts representing Japan, North America and South
America. The results should be graphed using a computer program
like Excel or on graph paper. The students should compare the
number of released balloons for each trial to the number of balloons
that make contact with the United States.
Note: Times are
estimations- will vary based on your class size
Materials:
Ladder or
playground slide (careful – fall risk)
Windy / breezy
day
3-5 balloons /
student
Data collection
maps
Graph paper or
computer graph program
Paperclips (Hang
from balloons to represent bombs – kids decide how many)
Poster board /
cardboard from refrigerator box (Targets – South and North America)
Process:
Preparation:
Targets will need to be
made.
Method 1: Use
the map below, cardboard, and an overhead to make a large
representation of Japan, North America, and South America.
Map JPG
Method 2: Use a
can of spray paint to make 2 large targets on the grass that
represents North and South America.
Day 1: (50-75
minutes) Every student
should blow up 3-5 balloons. The kids must then decide if they
would like to hang paperclips from the bottom of their balloons.
This should be a judgment call based on the current wind speed and
the distance from the launch site to the targets. All of the
balloons should be placed in large garbage sacks so they do not
break.
1.
Balloon release
-Release site:
tall object like a slide or jungle gym (safety issue)
-Place targets
(North and South America) down wind from release site
-The students
will need the following map to mark the location where each balloon
first hits the ground (1 map / trial)
Map JPG
-Each student
should take turns releasing the balloons
-Complete each
trial below (extra balloons may be needed if they pop)
Trial #1:
release 1 per student
Trial #2:
release 2 per student
Trial #3:
release 4 per student
Trial #....:
Continue to increase the number of balloons released if time
allows.
Day 2:
Graph the results and form conclusion (example below)
Example Data
Table:
Trial
|
Released
|
Contact |
Success
{(Contact/Released)*100%} |
1 |
15 |
4 |
27% |
2 |
30 |
7 |
23% |
3 |
60 |
19 |
32% |
4 |
80 |
22 |
28% |
5 |
110 |
32 |
29% |
(Hypothetical
Results)
Example Graph:
Conclusion: The
students should conclude that the number of hits increases because
the number of balloons released is increased even though the success
rate is fairly constant. The Japanese Military needed to send
thousands of balloons during WWII in order to guarantee some of the
balloons would reach the United States. The average success rate
above is approximately 28%.
A data table
should be created similar to the table below using the success rate
obtained from your study. The table reinforces the fact that more
hits will be made if more balloons are released.
Japanese Balloon Bombs |
Released |
Success (%) |
Contact |
10 |
0.28 |
2.8 |
100 |
0.28 |
28 |
500 |
0.28 |
140 |
1000 |
0.28 |
280 |
2500 |
0.28 |
700 |
6000 |
0.28 |
1680 |
9000 |
0.28 |
2520 |
10000 |
0.28 |
2800 |
FOURTH GRADE CIVICS
STANDARDS
STUDENTS WILL:
1. analyze the actions and rights of a
responsible citizen, such as obey rules (classroom, family,
community), the use of conflict resolution and compromise, voting
rights, property rights, civil rights, and human rights.
2. compare the changing roles and
cultures of the individuals role according to gender, age, and
occupation in various groups, such as family, community, and social
class structure.
FOURTH GRADE ECONOMICS STANDARDS
STUDENTS WILL:
2. identify how government pays for the
goods and services it provides (taxing and borrowing).
3. summarize the factors that affect
economic systems, including family finance, drought, and tourism.
Full Script (PDF)
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