This activity is intended to get students thinking about where information comes from, how it is presented, how its presentation affects understanding, and how information is used.
Because the featured document relates to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, it may be ideally suited for use at the beginning of a unit on WWII.
Suggested Teaching Instructions
Learning Objectives
Students will use the interpretation tools available in the activity to analyze evidence collected during the Congressional investigation of the Pearl Harbor Attack. It is the Radar Plot from Detector Station Opana in Hawaii, recorded on December 7, 1941. It will remind students of the surprise nature, as well as the scale, of the attack.
Instructions
This activity may be used during a lesson about U.S. entrance into World War II, or may be appropriate for a Theory of Knowledge course on where information comes from. For grades 8-12. Approximate time needed is 30-45 minutes.
Direct pairs of students to the activity, explaining simply that they will be looking at an interesting document and answering some questions about it. Do not tell them what the document is, and ask that as they analyze and discuss their theories, they try not to share their conclusions with the rest of the class. Alert them to the fact that the "Teacher Hints" might be useful. (If possible, this would also be effective as an independent homework assignment the night before beginning a unit on WWII.)
As directed in the activity, students will study the document and then be asked to complete the "Consider the Source" worksheet. When they are finished with the worksheet, the activity will reveal to them the document's origin and use. Then, students will be asked how knowing this information may alter their conclusions. They will email their conclusions to you. (Their email messages will include their responses to the worksheet's questions.)
Use their conclusions as the basis for a brief class discussion about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, and the resulting entrance of the United States into WWII. Explain to them that the radar plot was eventually used by the Congressional committee that investigated the attack. You may wish to use this information to develop additional activities about Congressional investigations.
For further background information and teaching suggestions, see the article "Congress Investigates: Pearl Harbor and 9/11 Congressional Hearing Exhibits” in the September 2011 National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) publication
Social Education.
For more information about the featured document, follow the link below.
