World History
The Cold War
(1945-1990)
Unit Compelling Questions
Instructions: Choose one or more Compelling Questions (CQ) for the unit based on your available time. Each Supporting Question (SQ) is sequenced and scaffolded for the Compelling Question.
Note: Starred (*) Compelling Questions are in the H.S. World History example Planning & Pacing Guide.
CQ: How do Ideas change the world?
Student Workbook
Student Slides:
Staging the Compelling Question
SQ 1: How did the Cold War divide the world ideologically, politically, and economically after World War II?
SQ 2: Who was primarily responsible for the Cold War – the United States or the Soviet Union? (DIG)
SQ 3: From Allies to Enemies: Why did the Cold War Begin? (DBQ U.S. Vol 2 Mini-Qs Units 13-27)
SQ 4: Why was democracy and communism incompatible?
District Assessment: Summative Performance Task
Take Action (Optional)
CQ: How does war affect children? (C3 Teachers)
Teacher Guide
Student Workbook
Student Slides:
Staging the Compelling Question
SQ 1: What were the experiences of Korean children during the Korean War?
SQ 2: What were the experiences of Korean children during the Korean War from the perspective of US soldiers?
SQ 3: What are the human costs of displacement and war?
District Assessment: Summative Performance Task
Take Action (Optional)
CQ: Who's to Blame for the Cold War? (C3 Teachers)
Teacher Guide
Student Workbook
Student Slides:
Staging the Compelling Question
SQ 1: What tensions were visible during and immediately after WWII?
SQ 2: How did these tensions turn into actions by the U.S. and Soviet Union?
SQ 3: What arguments do historians make about who started the Cold War?
District Assessment: Summative Performance Task
Take Action (Optional)
CQ: How do perspectives create conflict?
Teacher Guide
Student Workbook
Student Slides:
Staging the Compelling Question
SQ 1: How did the development of East and West Berlin reflect foreign policy goals for the United States and the Soviet Union?
SQ 2: Who started the Korean War? (SHEG)
SQ 3: How and why did the United States fight the Cold War in Guatemala? (SHEG)
SQ 4: How did proxy wars in Korea and Vietnam affect how the United States tried to contain the spread of Communism?
SQ 5: Berlin, Korea, Cuba: How Did the U.S. Contain Communism? (DBQ American History V2)
District Assessment: Summative Performance Task
Take Action (Optional)
CQ: Why is the Cuban Missile Crisis historically significant?
Teacher Guide
Student Workbook
Student Slides:
Staging the Compelling Question
SQ 1: How did Fidel Castro view the United States? (SHEG)
SQ 2: How did the development of the Cuban Missile Crisis reflect the conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union?
SQ 3: Why did the Soviets pull their missiles out of Cuba? (SHEG)
District Assessment: Summative Performance Task
Take Action (Optional)
CQ: What impacts culture?
Teacher Guide
Student Workbook
Student Slides:
Staging the Compelling Question
SQ 1: Why did Chinese youth get swept up in the Cultural Revolution? (SHEG)
SQ 2: How did the Olympics reflect Cold War tensions?
District Assessment: Summative Performance Task
Take Action (Optional)
CQ: How should we remember the Cold War?
Teacher Guide
Student Workbook
Student Slides:
Staging the Compelling Question
SQ 1: Why Did the Cold War End? (DBQ U.S. Vol 2 Mini-Qs Units 13-27)
SQ 2: The Soviet Union: What Should Textbooks Emphasize? (DBQ World History V3)
SQ 3: How did the world change because of the Cold War?
District Assessment: Summative Performance Task
Take Action (Optional)