Warm Up

1. Warm Up TURN IN YOUR STAAR ROTATIONS PACKET!! Start a new warm up page titled Alas, Babylon Warm Ups Date it (4/2/14) Write: if there was an apocalypse, what are the things about your life you think you would miss most? What are the things you would be OK to live without?

2. Friday: Choose your seats. Alas, Babylon PDF

3. Alas, Babylon Background Notes

4. Alas, Babylon was written in 1959 by a man named Pat Frank. His real name was Harry Hart but he wrote under a pseudonym. Pat Frank spent many years as a war correspondent.

5. Alas, Babylon is a post- apocalyptic novel. This means that the novel is set mostly in a time aftera major catastrophe.

6. The novel expresses the fearsand concernsthat Americans had during the Cold War in the 1950s. The Cold War refers to a time of tension and hostility between the United States and The Soviet Union, now known as Russia. It was called the “Cold” War because it never led to direct military intervention or battle.

7. After World War II, the United States wanted to spread Democracy throughout the world, but they feared that the Soviet Union would spread Communism to other countries. Wars likeVietnam and Korea were fought to prevent the spread of Communism. The United States feared that if these countries became Communist, other countries would follow. They called this The Domino Theory.

8. What is communism you ask? In its basic definition, it is a classless society in which all property is owned by the community as a whole and where all people enjoy equal social and economic status. It sounds good on paper, but it’s hard to implement effectively.

11. The Cold War was not fought with bombs or guns. It was fought with spies and technology. During World War II, Soviet spies infiltrated the Manhattan Project, which was the scientific project that led to the development of the atomic bomb.

12. Sometimes the 1950s is referred to as The Atomic Age because the world had just seen the power of the Atomic Bomb. Nuclear blasts could have devastating effects. When an atom bomb explodes, it releasesfallout. Fallout consists of small particles that settle on the ground and contain radiation. Radiationis a type of highly concentrated atomic energy that can have devastating effects on anything it touches.

14. As tension increased between the Soviet Union and the United States, people became more afraid of attack. Students had to do Air Raid Drills where they were told to “Duck and Cover.”

16. The government also funded the construction of fallout shelters, where people could hide in case of a nuclear attack.

17. Sputnik – first artificial satellite launched by the Soviets in 1957. What the Soviets thought it was: What Americans thought it was: What it really was:

18. Americans were afraid of Sputnik for three reasons: 1.) They were afraid that Russia could use Sputnik to spy on the United States. 2.) If Russia has the technology to go into space, they may also have the technology to bomb the United States or worse. 3.) The United States believed that if the Soviets controlled space, they could also control the world.

19. The Cold War officially ended in 1989 when the Berlin Wall, which was erected after WWII to separate Soviet East Berlin and Allied West Berlin, was torn down.

20. Abbreviations / Words to Know • TOT – Time on Target. Launching bombs at different times so they all hit at once. • SAC – Strategic Air Command. Branch of the Air Force during the Cold War. • NATO – North Atlantic Treaty Organization. There are currently 28 members (countries) in NATO who work together for peace and safety. Russia is not a part of NATO. • ICBM – Intercontinental ballistic missile (Can travel a minimum of 3500 miles)

21. Abbreviations / Words to Know • NORAD – North American Aerospace Defense Command. An organization that provides aerospace warning and defense for North America. • Civil Defense – a non-military effort to prepare Americans for military attack. Many towns in the 1950s had Civil Defense workers who would practice drills and have information for locals about what to do in a war situation. • Western Union – A business that sends/receives telegrams • “The Hole” – A bunker on Offutt Air Force Base that is deep underground. (Bush was taken here directly following the 9/11 attacks.) • McCoy, Offutt, MacDill – Military bases. Offutt is in Omaha, Nebraska. McCoy is in Orlando and MacDill is in Tampa.

22. Survival Activities Moon Simulation and Plane Crash Simulation

23. Nasa Exercise: Survival on the Moon

24. Scenario: You are a member of a space crew originally scheduled to rendezvous with a mother ship on the lighted surface of the moon. However, due to mechanical difficulties, your ship was forced to land at a spot some 200 miles from the rendezvous point. During reentry and landing, much of the equipment aboard was damaged and, since survival depends on reaching the mother ship, the most critical items available must be chosen from the 200-mile trip.

25. Below are listed 15 items left intact and undamaged after landing. Your task is to rank them in terms of their importance for your crew in allowing them to reach the rendezvous point. Place the number 1 by the most important, the number 2 by the second most important, and so on through number 15 for the least important. Box of matches Food concentrate 50 feet of nylon rope Parachute silk Portable heating unit Two .45 caliber pistols One case of dehydrated milk Two 100 lb. tanks of oxygen Stellar map Self-inflating life raft Magnetic compass 5 gallons of water Signal flares First aid kit, including injection needle Solar-powered FM receiver-transmitter What would you need to survive?

26. Scoring: For each item, mark the number of points that your score differs from the NASA ranking, then add up all the points. Disregard plus or minus differences. The lower the total, the better your score. 0 - 25 excellent 26 - 32 good 33 - 45 average 46 - 55 fair 56 - 70 poor – Suggests use of Earth-bound logic 71 - 112 very poor – You’re one of the casualties of the space program!

27. Plane Crash Survival Simulation

28. Scenario: You and your companions have just survived the crash of a small plane. Both the pilot and co-pilot were killed in the crash. It is mid-January, and you are in Northern Canada. The daily temperature is 25 below zero, and the night time temperature is 40 below zero. There is snow on the ground, and the countryside is wooded with several creeks crisscrossing the area. The nearest town is 20 miles away, but you don’t know which direction. You are all dressed in city clothes appropriate for a business meeting.

29. Your group of survivors managed to savage the following items: • A ball of steel wool • A small ax • A loaded .45-caliber pistol • Can of Crisco shortening • Newspapers (one per person) • Cigarette lighter (without fluid) • Extra shirt and pants for each survivor • 20x20 ft. piece of heavy-duty canvas • A sectional air map made of plastic • One quart of 100-proof whiskey • A compass • Family-size chocolatebars (one per person) Your task as a group is to list the 12 items in order of importance for survival. Also, list the uses for each item. You MUST come to agreement. Then, list the top five items at the bottom of the page. You will get points awarded based on your top five picks.

30. EXPLANATION Mid-January is the coldest time of year in Northern Canada.  The first problem the survivors face is the preservation of body heat and the protection against its loss.  This problem can be solved by building a fire, minimizing movement and exertion, using as much insulation as possible, and constructing a shelter.The participants have just crash-landed.  Many individuals tend to overlook the enormous shock reaction this has on the human body, and the deaths of the pilot and co-pilot increases the shock. Decision-making under such circumstances is extremely difficult.  Such a situation requires a strong emphasis on the use of reasoning for making decisions and for reducing fear and panic.  Shock would be shown in the survivors by feelings of helplessness, loneliness, hopelessness, and fear.  These feelings have brought about more fatalities than perhaps any other cause in survival situations.  Certainly the state of shock means the movement of the survivors should be at a minimum, and that an attempt to calm them should be made.Before taking off, a pilot has to file a flight plan which contains vital information such as the course, speed, estimated time of arrival, type of aircraft, and number of passengers.  Search-and-rescue operations begin shortly after the failure of a plane to appear at its destination at the estimated time of arrival.

31. The 20 miles to the nearest town is a long walk under even ideal conditions, particularly if one is not used to walking such distances.  In this situation, the walk is even more difficult due to shock, snow, dress, and water barriers.  It would mean almost certain death from freezing and exhaustion.  At temperatures of minus 25 to minus 40, the loss of body heat through exertion is a very serious matter.Once the survivors have found ways to keep warm, their next task is to attract the attention of search planes. Thus, all the items the group has salvaged must be assessed for their value in signaling the group’s whereabouts.The ranking of the survivors items was made by Mark Wanvig, a former  instructor in survival training for the Reconnaissance School of the 101st Division of the U.S. Army.  Mr. Wanvig currently conducts wilderness survival training programs in the Minneapolis, Minnesota area.  This survival simulation game is used in military training classrooms.

32. Scoring: As you see the ranking for each item, record the score for each item in your top five picks. The ranking number is the score. The group with the lowest score survives (and WINS), but the group(s) with the highest score(s) succumb to the winter conditions (frostbite and hypothermia – the body’s core temperature falls and your system starts to shut down)

36. Add up your total group score. Did your group choose wisely? Will you survive or succumb to the winter conditions?