Lesson Plan: United Nations and Korean Conflict
Author: Dennis West, Kasey Schurtz, Don Haven, Harmony Brenneman
Subject: History, Foreign Policy
Grade(s): 9, 10
Benchmarks and Indicators
- History 9-10, Benchmark E: Analyze connections between World War II, the Cold War and contemporary conflicts.
- Indicator: Grade 9, GLI 11. Analyze the consequences of World War II including: e. The United Nations.
- Indicator: Grade 9, GLI 12. Analyze the impact of conflicting political and economic ideologies after World War II that resulted in the Cold War including: a. Soviet expansion in Eastern Europe; b. The division of Germany; c. The emergence of NATO and the Warsaw Pact; d. The Chinese Communist Revolution.
- Indicator: Grade 10, GLI 8. Explain how the Cold War and related conflicts influenced U.S. foreign policy after 1945 with emphasis on: c. The Korean War and the Vietnam War.
- Geography 9-10, Benchmark A: Analyze the cultural, physical, economic and political characteristics that define regions and describe reasons that regions change over time.
- Indicator: Grade 9, GLI 2. Explain how differing points of view play a role in conflicts over territory and resources.
- Indicator: Grade 9, GLI 3. Explain how political and economic conditions, resources, geographic locations and cultures have contributed to cooperation and conflict.
Lesson Summary
The lesson looks at the United Nations and its role in the Korean conflict. The lesson begins with a look at the development and functions of the United Nations. It then expands to look at the involvement of the United Nations in the Korean conflict and reflect on why they chose to get involved. The lesson closes with a student evaluation of the United StatesÂ’ involvement in the Korean conflict. This is designed as a two-day lesson.
Pre-Assessment/Diagnostic
Pre-assessment is in a quiz format, using the worksheet provided here. The scoring is based on participation. If the students tries to answer the questions they are given credit because the information is over what is going to be covered.
Instructional Procedures
- Day One:
- Step 1: Give the pre-assessment to the students.
- Step 2: Hand out the pictures of the UN charter (click on image at right). Have the students pair off or break into groups and discuss what they see. Use the following questions to help with the discussion:
- What do you see in the picture?
- Does anything in the image give you a clue to the date or place of the image?
- Does anything in the image give you a clue about what the photograph was used for?
- Step 3: Hand out the Preamble to the Charter of the United Nations. Have the students read the Preamble. Create a brainstorm as a class or in groups as to why the United Nations was created at this time based on this document.
- Step 4: Hand out the UN shield to the students (click on picture at right). This time students individually reflect on the shield. Have them think about what symbols are on the shield and why those symbols are chosen.
- Step 5: Brief teacher-led discussion on the structure and purpose of the United Nation.
- Step 6: Provide the students with key terms for
this lesson:
- Security Council
- General Assembly
- Permanent Five
- Superpowers
- Containment
- UN Headquarters
- Ambassadors
- Diplomatic Immunity
- Step 7: Hand out a blank world map, such as this one from Prentice Hall, and have the students mark the location of Korea.
- Day Two:
- Step 1: Hand out the UN Security Council Resolution from June 27, 1950 (Resolution 83) and have the students read and hypothesize what might be happening in Korea.
- Step 2: Teacher-led discussion the reasons for conflict and the reasons for the division of Korea.
- Key Terms:
- Douglass MacArthur
- Harry S. Truman
- Mark Ridgeway
- Joseph Stalin
- Mao Zedong
- 38th Parallel
- Syngman Rhee
- Kim Il Sung
- Security Council Role
- Step 3: Hand out a blank map of Korea, such as this one from Prentice Hall. Have the students identify the following items on the map.
- 38th parallel
- Pusan
- Inchon
- Yalu River
- Seoul
- P'yongyang
- Panmunjon
- Chinese border
- Soviet border
- Step 4: Hand out Truman's Speech. Have the students read through the speech and make a list of reasons Truman gives for involving the United States in Korea.
- Step 5: Hand out Post-Assessment sheet. In grading the extended response question, use the following guidelines: Was an opinion provided by the student? and Were they able to support the opinion with facts from the lesson?
Post-Assessment
Post-Assessment is based on the sheet provided here. Future assessment will take place with the final unit test.
