Grades 11-12
![]() Nuclear Reactions: Atomic Diplomacy at the Marin Headlands provides a dynamic supplement to your unit on the Cold War. Students are introduced to the Nike missile site that operated in the Marin Headlands during the 1950s until 1974. The missile site, located near a major urban area, offers students the opportunity to consider the national significance and impact of the Cold War from a local perspective: its definition of security, the technology it spawned, the role of diplomacy, and public perceptions of the era. Students also can conduct research into primary and secondary sources that continue the story of nuclear technology in our political and economic world of today.
Click here for the Nuclear Reactions Understanding by Design grid. Click here for the teachers guide and program description. Click here for additional materials about Nike missiles and Cold War history.
Program DescriptionNuclear Reactions is framed by the Essential Question – "What does safety look like?" Students also consider the following questions: What is my definition of national security? Do my answers to these questions contain contradictions?
Nuclear Reactions in structured in three parts:
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Last updated: October 2, 2020