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7th grade · Social Studies · Unit 6 of 10

The Cold War

Superpowers, the arms race and the fall of the Berlin Wall

What your child practices

The Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union: communism and democracy, NATO, the arms and space races, conflicts in Korea and Vietnam, and the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Arizona Academic Standards learning standard: 7.E5.2; 7.H3.1 · comparing economic systems, and the origins and spread of influential ideologies

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. The Cold War was “cold” because the US and the Soviet Union never fought each other directly.
  2. Each side had allies: NATO and the Warsaw Pact. Containment tried to stop communism, as in Korea and Vietnam.
  3. There were arms and space races; détente eased tension in the 1970s. The Berlin Wall fell in 1989.

Example: Why is the Cold War called “cold”? In a “hot” war, armies fight directly. The superpowers never fought each other directly. Answer: The superpowers never fought each other directly

The Cold War in Arizona

In the Arizona Academic Standards, this is unit 6 of 10 in 7th grade Social Studies, after World War II and before Civil Rights.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Arizona Department of Education

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Détente in the 1970s meant…

    • the start of the Korean War
    • a new arms race
    • an easing of tensions between the US and the Soviet Union
    • the building of the Berlin Wall

  2. Question 2

    The Soviet Union's alliance with Eastern European countries was called the…

    • Marshall Plan
    • Monroe Doctrine
    • Warsaw Pact
    • Open Door Policy

  3. Question 3

    The domino theory said that…

    • games could settle wars
    • trade always stops war
    • all wars end quickly
    • if one country fell to communism, its neighbors would follow

  4. Question 4

    Why was the space race part of the Cold War?

    • the UN required it
    • space had gold to mine
    • it had nothing to do with rivalry
    • each side used achievements in space to show its strength and technology

  5. Question 5

    Mikhail Gorbachev was…

    • a US president
    • a German chancellor
    • a Soviet leader whose reforms helped end the Cold War
    • a Cuban general

  6. Question 6

    The Bay of Pigs invasion of 1961 was…

    • a battle in Korea
    • a failed attempt by US-trained Cuban exiles to overthrow Fidel Castro
    • the first moon mission
    • a Soviet attack on Florida

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