In August of 1945, the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing or wounding over 200,000 people and prompting Japan's WWII surrender. In light of this anniversary, I would like to extend the work Christina did on the Our Collective Histories weekly website and demonstrated that the Internet is a wonderful way to locate primary resources, lesson plans and activities, texts and works of historical fiction, and much more. Use the Become a Web Detective! weekly website if you need help researching a specific topic of your own! --Leslie

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Secondary Resources | Primary Resources |
Historical Fact and Fiction |
Social Studies Lesson Plans Online | Locating Resources

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Secondary Resources

A-Bomb WWII Museum
Atomic Bombing of Nagasaki
CyberExhibit: Enola Gay and the Atomic Bomb:

Unit 1: War in the Pacific
Unit 2: A Fight to the Finish
Unit 3: The Decision to Drop the Bomb
Unit 4: "Enola Gay:" The B-29 and the Atomic Missions
Unit 5: Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Unit 6: Japan Surrenders

Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and the Bomb Links
Outlaw Lab's Text History of the Atomic Bomb
Record of A-Bomb Disaster

Primary Resources

Atomic Bomb Decision: Documents on the decision to use the A-Bomb!

The Official Bomb Order: July 25, 1945
Listen to Radio Speech Excerpt of President Truman

The DropZone's Oral Histories:

Experiences in Africa and Europe
Experiences in the Pacific

The DropZone's World War II Scrapbook:

PostWar Nickles: An amazing photo album providing a unique look into post-war life of the Triple Nickles, America's first African American paratroopers.

Memories from the Pacific: An exclusive 21 page Photo Album detailing an Infantry Platoon's action from Australia to Corregidor. Taken by members of B Co.503rd RCT.  One of the DropZone's best WWII scrapbooks.

Bastogne Scrapbook: Bud Lauer of the 907 Glider Field Artillery Battalion snapped several amazing photos of life inside Bastogne including the Bastogne aerial re-supply, capture of German prisoners, and much more!

Einstein to Roosevelt: Letter About Use of Advanced Warfare
Eyewitness Accounts of the Bombing of Hiroshima
**Hiroshima: Was it Necessary?

Hiroshima: Harry Truman's Diary and Papers
Part 1: Secretary of War Stimson's Diary and Papers
Part 2: Secretary of War Stimson's Diary and Papers
Part 3: Secretary of War Stimson's Diary and Papers
Part 4: Secretary of War Stimson's Diary and Papers

Sec. of the Navy Ralph Bard's Alternative to A-bombing Japan.
Voices of A-Bomb Survivors

Historical Fact and Fiction

Carol Hurst's WWII Fiction and Nonfiction Children's Literature Site
Cranes for Peace: Link here to learn more about the story of Sadako and the Cranes for Peace initiative. It began as a project to collect paper cranes to be sent to Hiroshima for the 50th anniversary of the bombing. Ever since the story of Sadako Sasaki, a young girl who died of leukemia 10 years after the bombing, became widely known, people from around the world have sent origami cranes to the Children of the A-Bomb statue in the Hiroshima Peace Park as a symbol and wish for peace. Sadako attempted to fold 1000 cranes believing she would get well by doing so. It has become an inspiration for school children world-wide to fold cranes in a wish for peace.

Social Studies Lesson Plans Online

Lesson Plans and Resources for Social Studies Teachers
List of Lesson Plans Link (Terry Jordan's site!)
Ask ERIC Lesson Plans
Education World
Teachers Helping Teachers (all subjects!)

Locating Resources

In order to locate many of these sites, I relied on the skills noted in the Become a Web Detective site. For this search, I used both Yahoo and Kathy Schrock directories. Kathy Schrock was especially useful for locating lesson plan links. It is important to note that these directories served as jumping points which connected me to links which, in turn, were connected to other relevant links. The Web lives up to its name, so try to organize your search so that you do not become tangled! In addition, I referenced other bookmarked sites including Our Collective Histories.