Source: youtube.com
Questions:
1. The nuclear explosion was only 10 kilometers away. Do you think that the cameramen were safe?
2. Look at how high the smoke went, do you think the fallout from this explosion may have impacted the communities surrounding it?
3. The soldiers run and hide in small holes during the detonation of the nuclear artillery shell, do you think they were given sufficient protection?
4. How are the soldiers acting in the video? Do you think that they are aware of any potential danger to themselves, or to the broader communities that live in the area?
5. Imagine you are a rancher in the area surrounding this test site, what would you say to these soldiers? Do you think that it would have any effect on them?
6. Finally, imagine you are Leon Bear, leader of the Goschutes. This land is very similar to his land. What do you think he would think of this detonation? Using this idea of sovereignty does the United States Government have the right to detonate weapons wherever it feels like?
1. What is the first think you notice about this picture?
2. Is it easy to see why this sign was posted?
3. Knowing what we now know about Atomic Energy it is easy for us to understand why we shouldn't trespass on the site in question. However, do you think it was easy for people to understand in the 1950s when the sign was originally posted?
4. Does this sign explain clearly what the danger might be if you trespass?
5. What do you think someone living in the community surrounding this site would feel about this sign, and the radiation that it represents?
6. Why do you think the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) made so much of the type (words) on the sign so small that they are hard to read? Why might they do this, and can you think of any other places you've seen "fine print" that looks similar to this; why do you think these people wrote this kind of "fine print".
Source: http://home.howstuffworks.com
1. Look at the items in this picture, what do you think this is a picture of?
2. What do you notice most about the picture, does any one item stand out?
3. Would you feel comfortable living here for a day, what about a week, or a month, or even for years?
4. Think about the soldiers in the video in their foxholes (small holes to hide in) during the explosion of the nuclear artillery shell, do you think that they would have preferred this as a shelter?
5. Using evidence from the picture, how long do you think that two people could survive in this fallout shelter?
6. If you were to design a fallout shelter knowing what you now know about nuclear fallout and radiation's impact on an area's population would you add anything to this shelter?
Source: http://home.howstuffworks.com
This is a schematic view of a fallout shelter that a person could build for him or herself.
1. If you were alive in the 1950s, and living in Utah, do you think that you would have thought it necessary to build one of these?
2. One day officials from the Atomic Energy Commission come to your house and tell you that there has been an accident and you must stay indoors, preferably in your basement if you have one, for the rest of your day. Do you think that you would then make the connection to the schematic you saw in that mouth's Time Magazine.
3. Do you think that this shelter would be effective against nuclear radiation?
4. As with the other radiation shelter that you saw predict how long a person could live in this shelter. What evidence from the picture do you think supports this?
5. If you were to live for several months inside the shelter how do you think you would feel? Do you feel that you would be glad to be alive, or would you become "stir-crazy"?
6. Again, as with the other image what would you add to this fallout shelter. Consider that many of the affected people in the West were farmers with cattle and sheep, should they be accommodated into this fallout shelter as well?
Source: www.nv.doe.gov
1. In St. George, Utah, many people woke up to "Nuclear Sunrises" much the same as this. As the sun rose they would walk out of their houses and watch the latest nuclear explosion. The Atomic Energy Commission encouraged this. What do you think you would think when you saw this (remember you don't know it will be harmful to you or your family yet).
2. Do you think that this image would have made you proud of America's military and scientific abilities?
3. Looking at this image guess how high the cloud of nuclear fallout is. How far do you think this would spread?
4. Do you think that you might have wondered about the health hazards posed by this explosion?
5. Imagine that several years later your young and healthy wife miscarries multiple times, and your friends who herd sheep have had many of their ostensibly healthy sheep dying young. Do you think this would have made you think about the "nuclear sunrises" a few years previously.
6. Moving on a few years into the future you hear that in 1962 outdoor nuclear testing was outlawed in America. How does this make you feel when you reflect on this image, and how have your ideas changed?
Questions:
1. This horse was burned by radiation taken during the 1950s. Do you think this calls into question the government's assertion that fallout is not dangerous?
2. If you were a rancher in the area after seeing this picture what action, if any, would you take?
3. What do you think the effect of this same radiation would be on a human? Explain why and provide evidence.
4. Given what you now know about the impact of radiation on humans, cows and sheep what do you think will happen to this horse?
5. If you were this rancher, what would you do for this horse?
6. If something bad happens to the horse, would you seek any kind of compensation? If so, who would you seek it from, and how would you seek it?
