Online Learning Materials
Bite-size stimuli, activities and information to engage students with nuclear weapons issues. These materials can be used as stand-alone activities lasting up to 15 minutes, or can form the basis of a full lesson or workshop.
Ask an Activist Podcast
15-minute interviews with young changemakers. We platform activists under 21 who makes positive change as elected representatives or campaigners.
Subjects: Citizenship, Government & Politics, PSHE. More…
The ‘nuclear ban’ treaty
Learn about the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, and which countries are leading the way for a world without nukes.
Subjects: Geography (place-specific knowledge), Politics (internationalism) and Citizenship (global issues). More…
Make a Peace Crane and learn its history (VIDEO)
Tutorial for making your own origami peace crane. Learn about the story of Sadako Sasaki and the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, whilst also folding a crane for peace.
For ages 11-18. Assistance advised for origami. More…
Award-winning Teaching Packs
We have six free teaching packs, which are made up of innovative lesson plans and accompanying materials. You can browse and download them all via the links below.
If you would like to receive physical copies of our teaching packs by post, click here.
Check out our free PowerPoints, lesson plans, printable worksheets and supporting information for teachers below.
We can also come to your school and facilitate the lessons ourselves, so that your students can have a fresh perspective and you can take a bit of a break! Find out more here.
The Bomb Factor
Six cross-curricular lessons on nuclear weapons issues, including an X Factor-style debate competition
Dial M for Missile
Seven cross-curricular lessons to teach themes around the Cuban Missile Crisis and compare and contrast with the world situation today
‘…a valuable tool for shaking up the classroom, in which students are not taught what, but how, to think.’ – Read more about ‘Dial M’ here
Under Pressure
Find out how pressure groups operate and create your own in the classroom
Truman on Trial
Six cross-curricular lessons around Hiroshima and Nagasaki, including a mock trial to decide if President Truman was justified in dropping the atomic bombs.
** We’re very proud to announce that Truman On Trial has just been awarded the Quality Mark of the Association for Citizenship Teaching, recognising it as an outstanding Citizenship education resource! **
Sadako’s Cranes
Learn the story of Hiroshima child victim Sadako Sasaki, and make your own origami peace cranes
Critical Mass
5 cross-curricular lessons using examples around the world, looking at gender, identity, marginalisation and race where nuclear issues arise.
Critical Mass ‘a resource that enables students to develop a critical consciousness and understand real people’s lived experience, identity, diversity and the global issues that impact on us all.‘ – Independent reviewer, Teach Secondary Magazine
Order a physical copy here, or read our pack overview here.
Teach Peace
We also have an assembly in this new edition of the Peace Education Network’s pack for Primary, which offers a rich range of lesson activities exploring peace from the inner and interpersonal levels to the national and global.
One of our lessons from ‘Under Pressure’ appears in this 2024 edition of the Peace Education Network’s pack for Secondary along with over 50 cross-curricular lessons from other educational organisations across the UK.
One of our School Speaker volunteers, Bryan, has created a fantastic FAQ document to answer some of the key questions about nuclear weapons in an accessible way: Nuclear Weapons FAQ
We would also like to recommend resources from our sister organisation
Peace Education Scotland:
Oppenheimer
To mark the release of the new Oppenheimer film, the Peace Education Network (PEN) with Quakers in Britain, and Scientists for Global Responsibility (SGR) have released lessons examining the legacy of early atomic scientists. [ Download the free resources via this link.]
This resource includes a presentation with quotes and fascinating biographical facts about scientists incuding Einstein, Heisenberg, Szilard and Bohr (who all featured in the Oppenheimer film) and it may be of particular interest to science departments.
The Doomsday Clock
On 24th January 2023 the Doomsday clock was set at 90 seconds to midnight (download our free resource about the Doomsday clock).
Created in 1947 by the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, the doomsday clock is a symbol that reflects the risk of man-made threats to the world. Our PDF / Word doc contains further information and an exercise for pupils.
Environmental Costs of Nuclear Weapons – COP26/27 Resources
Our booklet “Environmental Costs of Nuclear Weapons” is a useful resource for educators, politicians, or anyone wishing to have an informed debate on nuclear weapons.
Covering topics such as climate and resource related conflicts, adverse effects from nuclear tests and uranium mining, radioactive and toxic discharges, the close links between civil nuclear power stations and weapons programmes, and the large ‘carbon bootprint’ of the military – the booklet also includes useful links and references.
It is available to download here https://www.peaceeducationscotland.org/docs/nuclear-environment-booklet.pdf, or contact info@peaceeducationscotland.org for printed copies.
Peace Education Scotland also has resources on Covid 19 and Nuclear Weapons, Environment and Nuclear Winter, Morality: Just War Theory and Ukraine.