Manhattan Project

Goals & Objectives

Students will learn about the creation of the atomic bomb and the events leading up to its final
development. Students will be able to effectively describe the ethical dilemma of using this bomb on Japan, and
why the United States ultimately decided to drop it. Lastly, students will be able to effectively choose a side of
the ethical dilemma to drop the bomb and be able to effectively defend that viewpoint.
People
Students will determine the stance on using the bomb and their reasoning for this of the major players in
the Manhattan Project. They will also identify their role and a major contribution of theirs
Timeline
Students will identify the major events that took place throughout the development of the atomic bomb
and will place them on a timeline.
Content Delivery
Students will use the information in their text, in the attached readings and the Documentary.
Content Standards
HS.1.1 Students compare the present with the past, evaluating the consequences of past events and decisions
and determining the lessons that were learned.
HS.3.2 Students recognize the complexity of historical causes and effects, including the limitations on
determining cause and effect.
HS.3.3 Students understand the meaning, implication, and impact of historical events and recognize that events
could have taken other directions.
Key Players Major Contribution and Position
Albert Einstein A Jewish German scientist, he is most famous for his work on the theory of relativity.
He transformed scientific thinking of the way atoms and particles work and famous
for his work on space.
Exiled out of Germany in 1933 when the Nazis came to power.
He was then worried about Nazi Germany working with nuclear power, so he sent a
letter to President Roosevelt about his concerns with Germany advancing in atomic
development.
This would eventually begin the Manhattan Project.
Robert Oppenheimer An American physicist responsible for leading the development of the nuclear bomb.
Without his research and hard work, the Manhattan project would not have finished
in the time it did.
Robert Oppenheimer was the lead researcher and scientist on the Manhattan Project.
Franklin D. Roosevelt Authorized the development of the atomic bomb. He died just a few months before
the first nuclear bomb was used.
Leo Szilard Realized the possibility of a nuclear chain reaction.
worried that Nazi Germany would abuse the power of nuclear power and helped
write the letter to President Roosevelt with Einstein to alert the president to the
dangers that would exist is Nazi Germany made progress in nuclear development.
After the bomb was developed, Szilard questioned the moral use of the bomb.
Enrico Fermi An Italian scientist who came to America after Italy sided with Germany in World
War II because his wife was Jewish.
Best known for successfully creating a sustainable atomic chain reaction at the
University of Chicago, which was the first successful test that a atomic bomb was
possible.
He is called "the father of the atomic bomb" because of his significant contributions
and work on the nuclear bomb.
Date Event
1932 The atom is split for the first time, my John Crockcroft and E.T.S. Walton of Great Britan,
proving Einstein’s theory of Relativity
1933 A Hungarian physicist realizes the possibility of a nuclear chain
1934 First nuclear fission is announced by Lise Meitner and Otto Frisch
1939 Oppenheimer realizes the potential military application of nuclear fission

1941 Plutonium is discovered

FDR Authorizes the Manhattan Project
1942 Colonel Groves is placed in charge of the Manhattan Project, and Oppenheimer becomes
the Project’s Scientific Director.

1943 Japan named the primary target for any future atomic bombs – Military Policy Committee
of the Manhattan Project

April 1945 Target Committee names target cities: Kyoto, Hiroshima, Kokura, Niigata

July 1945 Leo Szilard petitions President Truman to call off use of atomic bomb
Worlds first atomic detonation takes place in the “Trinity Test” at New Meexico
Truman orders the use of Atomic Bombs
Potsdam Declaration is issued, calling for unconditional surrender of Japan
Japan rejects the Potsdam Declaration

August 1945 Little Boy, uranium bomb, detonates over Hiroshima, 7/6/1945 kills between 90,000 and
100,000 people
U.S. drops warning pamphlets 7/7/45
Second bomb, the Fat Man, was scheduled for Kokura, but is changed to Nagasaki due to
weather 7/9/45
Drop warning pamphlets in Nagasaki 7/10/45
Fat Man Dropped 7/11/45
September 1945 Japan announces its formal surrender