The Cold War

This afternoon I finished up 8th grade U.S. History, a year-long journey I've been taking with a student. Meeting twice a month, with independent work for him to complete in between meetings, we covered soooo much ground. In Waldorf schools that have a high school, it's common now to have U.S. History span both grades 8 and 9. In our circumstance, we did it in one year.

All of my notes for this topic are in the U.S. History Ruzuku course. If you're planning to teach grade 8 next year, they would be a wonderful resource!

U.S. History
cohort limited to 25
$50.00

Our May topic was Modern History, and he got to choose one aspect or event in Modern History to focus on. He chose to learn more about the Cold War and the Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster. As it turns out, these are closely related!

Did the Cold War lead to the Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster?
Yes!

According to world-nuclear.org, "The April 1986 disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine was the product of a flawed Soviet reactor design coupled with serious mistakes made by the plant operators. It was a direct consequence of Cold War isolation and the resulting lack of any safety culture."

Did the Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster lead to the fall of the U.S.S.R.?
Yes!

Chernobyl was the beginning of the end. According to keele.ac.uk, the accident at Chernobyl challenged "the fulfilment of the policies of Gorbachev, which prevented the necessary reformation of the governmenal system and contributed heavily to the downfall of the Soviet Union."

The U.S.S.R. was in existence for 68 years, since December 1922, but fewer than six years elapsed between the meltdown at Chernobyl (April 26, 1986) and the formal dissolution of the Soviet Union (December 25, 1991).

Our booklist consisted of two nonfiction chapter books and a picture book.

The Cold War (Major US Historical Wars)
by John Ziff
written in 2016

I Heal: The Children of Chernobyl in Cuba
by Trish Marx & Dorita Beh-Eger
written in 1996

Chernobyl (World Disasters)
by Don Nardo
written in 1990

Today we discussed these books, read the Smithsonian Magazine article Forests Around Chernobyl Aren’t Decaying Properly, and -- just for fun --watched a BBC clip from an episode of Top Gear (series 21, episode 3) called A race to run out of fuel in Ukraine.

This post contains affiliate links to materials I truly use for homeschooling. Qualifying purchases provide me with revenue. Thank you for your support!