Nuclear Weapons

“I am become Death, the shatterer of worlds.”

Robert Oppenheimer’s thoughts after witnessing the first atomic explosion in 1945

Think-Pair-Share: What Do You Know?

• Consider the following questions, write out your answers, go over them with a partner and then be prepared to share with the class

1) What are nuclear weapons?2) How do they work?3) How many have been used?4) Which countries have them?5) What makes them different from other

weapons?

Keep in Mind

• As we go through class today, consider your answers, and then check them afterwards. Were you right for most of them?

• By the end of the class, you should be able to answer the question:

How did nuclear weapons shape the course of the 20th Century?

Hiroshima and Nagasaki

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtSt5XZ7fq4

Hiroshima before the bombing

Hiroshima after the bombing

Nagasaki before and after

Nuke It!

• To better understand the power of nuclear weapons, let’s take a look at how they would affect Toronto, were they to be deployed against us

• http://www.carloslabs.com/projects/200712B/GroundZero.html

Short and Long Term Effects

Hiroshima on the ground

Radiation Burns and Radiation Sickness

http://www.aasc.ucla.edu/cab/index.html

How Many Have Been Detonated?

http://www.ctbto.org/specials/1945-1998-by-isao-hashimoto/

Nuclear Arms Race

Current Nuclear Situation

The Effects on Society

The Doomsday Clock

- Symbolic clock founded and maintained since 1947 by scientists at the University of Chicago- Closer it is to midnight, closer we are to global, world ending disaster- Changed to reflect changes in the political landscape- Used to only be for nuclear disaster, but since 2007 the updaters also include climate-change in their calculations

Entertainment

• Many films, novels, and video games deal with nuclear weapons and their effects

• Films: Planet of the Apes, Terminator• Books: The Chrysalids, The Road• Games: Fallout