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India and Pakistan Get the Bomb
May marks the 10th anniversary of the entry of India into the group of nations that have developed and tested atomic weapons. India's adversary and neighbor, Pakistan, joined this growing club of nations two weeks later.
India's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wanted the bomb. They were unlike all India's previous ruling parties that rejected nuclear weapons. Together, they were going to show themselves and the world that they had mastered the ultimate in human power over nature, the hydrogen bomb. At 3:45 p.m. local time, the countdown ended and the desert near the Pakistan border rumbled. Three nuclear devices exploded simultaneously. The scientists, engineers, and army laborers cheered. It was possible that India, and perhaps the world, would never be the same.
Later in 1998, analysts believed India possessed roughly twenty-five ready-to-assemble fission weapons, with enough weapon-grade plutonium for perhaps an additional twenty-five. India also operated a pilot plant for extracting tritium from heavy water, a key isotope for boosted-fission and thermonuclear weapons.
Traditional Search Method Activity
Students are always interested in science topics that hold either great promise, or great disaster for their future. Assign a report of 150-200 words that cites at least three resources. Or choose a PowerPoint report of about two to three minutes.
Pathfinder: Click Topics tab > Technology > Energy > Nonrenewable Energy > Nuclear Energy > Nuclear Weapons.
Students should answer the following essential questions for critical thinking:
- How is a nuclear weapon created and developed?
- What are the hazards of testing nuclear weapons?
- What are some of the future types of nuclear weapons being developed?
- How can nuclear weapons be designed that yield less radiation?
Click here for a teacher's guide to written reports. Or, click here for a student PowerPoint report template.
BookCart Learning Activity
ProQuest provides a new model BookCart for teachers to use to explore both the science and the hazards of nuclear weapons -- Nuclear Weapons Development.
A growing number of teachers prefer to use the BookCart learning activities to assign topics/issues to their students instead of the traditional search method. The advantage is that when students open the BookCart, all the instructions, essential questions and even a quiz can be integrated with the teacher-selected resources. This saves valuable classroom time that students would ordinarily need to search, and also teacher time that would needed to assess the relevancy of resources that students select.
Everything that students need to complete the assignment is there when students open the BookCart.
Pathfinder to copy model BookCart:
- Open the eLibrary Science Teacher Edition BookCart Editor.
- Click BookCart Admin link at the top-right.
- Click ProQuest Carts tab.
- Click eLibrary Science -- BookCarts folder on the left margin.
- Scroll through the collection (alpha order) to Nuclear Weapons Development.
- Click the Copy icon to the right of this title.
- Click Return to My Local Carts.
This BookCart can easily be edited for effective use:
- In My Local Carts, find and click the new Title that will have "Copy of" as its prefix.
- Delete "Copy of" in the Title.
- Type your name in the Author boxes.
- Scroll down and click Save button at bottom.
- Return to My Local Carts.
- Students will click BookCart on the Search Page and then this title to open it.
Assign students to complete a report of 150-200 words that cites at least three resources. Or choose a PowerPoint report of about two to three minutes. Remember that this student BookCart includes student directions, a PowerPoint template link, and essential questions for critical thinking--you can add or substitute others if appropriate.
Click here for a teacher's guide to written reports. Or, click here for a student PowerPoint report template.
CultureGrams & World Conflicts Today
Standards-Aligned Insight into Daily Life & Global Conflicts
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