Human Heritage: A World History

Chapter 39: The World Since 1989

Web Activity Lesson Plans

“The Wall Came Tumbling Down”

Introduction
Students have read about the end of the Cold War and the reunification of Germany. In this activity students will take a closer look at the rise and fall of the Berlin Wall.

Lesson Description
Students will visit the Newseum Web site to explore a virtual exhibit about the Berlin Wall. They will learn why the wall was built, East and West Berliners' reactions to the wall, and the events that eventually brought the wall down. Students will then design drawings or words they might have used to decorate the wall if they were residents of West Berlin during the period of separation.

Instruction Objectives

1. Students will be able to summarize the events leading up to the erection of the Berlin Wall.
2. Students will be able to describe ways that the people of East and West Berlin overcame obstacles presented by the wall.

Student Web Activity Answers

1. They built the wall to keep people in East Berlin from fleeing to democratic and capitalist West Berlin.
2. They called it Schandmaur, or the "Wall of Shame."
3. about 10,000; about 5,000; 246
4. They learned about the West by listening to newscasts from Radio Free Europe, Radio in the American Sector, the British Broadcasting Corporation, and West German stations. Word of mouth, billboards, and smuggled fliers and papers were other means by which news was transmitted to the East Berliners.
5. Students' designs will vary.