Cold War Review Project

The year is 1961 and President Dwight Eisenhower is fearful of the military
industrial complex disrupting peace in the United States and the rest of the world.
He believes that in order to fix the problems of the present and future, we must
know and understand the past. Mr. President is recruiting YOU and your colleagues
to figure out why the Cold War happened and progressed as it did. President Dwight
Eisenhower wants the answer to the important questions, What event(s) most
prompted the Cold War and led to its rapid growth?" as well as "Could the
Cold War have been prevented, and if so, how? He plans to use this new
found information to restore world peace, especially between the United States and
the Soviet Union.

Your Assignment

As a group: Each group will be given 3-4 topics to research. You can research them
together or delegate each topic accordingly. You will use your textbook and the
websites provided to you to gather information. With that information, you will
construct a Prezi or PowerPoint presentation. Your entire group is to give a 5-minute
presentation to the rest of the class.
Due: Thursday, April 16th
As an individual: You are to take notes as your classmates are presenting. After
each group has presented their findings, you will be answering the 2 bolded
questions in a short essay. The essay should be between 2-3 paragraphs (5
sentences per paragraph).
Due: Monday, April 20th

Grading Scale (Worth 100%)

50% - Oral Presentation
40% - Short Essay
10% - Groupwork

Scoring Rubric for Oral Presentations

PRESENCE
-body language, poise, & eye contact
-physical organization & preparation
LANGUAGE SKILLS
-appropriate vocabulary and grammar
-understandable (rhythm, intonation, accent)
-spoken loud enough to hear easily
ORGANIZATION
-clear objectives
-logical structure
MASTERY OF THE SUBJECT
-pertinence
-depth of commentary
-spoken, not read
-able to answer questions
VISUAL AIDS
-slides
-pictures, audio, video, etc.

10

10

10

10

10

TOTAL SCORE _______ / 50

Scoring Rubric for Short Essay

ORGANIZATION
10
-information is organized
-well-constructed paragraphs
RESPONSE
10
-both questions are answered fully
-full details with relevance
QUALITY OF INFORMATION
10
-information clearly relates to the main topic
-provides several supporting details and/or examples
MECHANICS
10
-no grammatical, spelling, or punctuation errors

TOTAL SCORE _________ / 40

Each group must discuss, but are not limited to the following topics:
Group 1

(Chapter 26)
o
o
o
o

Group 2
1946-1947
o
o
o
Group 3
1948-1949
o
o
o
Group 4
1949-1953
o
o
Group 5
1950-1953
o
o

1945
The meeting at Yalta
The United Nations
The Potsdam Conference
American views vs. Soviet views
(Chapter 26)
"The Iron Curtain"
Containment
The Truman Doctrine
(Chapter 26)
The Marshall Plan
The Berlin Airlift
NATO is formed
(Chapter 26)
The communist advances (Soviet atomic threat & fall of China to
communism)
The Cold War at home (Loyalty Program, HUAC, Hollywood 10,
McCarran-Walker Act, spies in the US)
(Chapter 26)
Communist expansion in Asia
The Korean War

o
Group 6
1950-1960
o
o
o

The effects of the Korean War

(Chapter 26)
McCarthy's rise & fall
The arms race
The Eisenhower Doctrine