The Coalition: An Integrated Analysis of the Gulf War

Names and Majors of the Team Members

• Julie Hallwas: Biology 
• Amber Eve: Business 
• Jenny Stetson: Business 
• Jason Wallin: Social Sciences 
• Jared Lofrano: Social Sciences

Subjects Integrated:

• Biology: "Biological Weapons - Waging War With Bacteria" 
• Business: "The Costs of the Gulf War" 
• Political Science: "Just War Theory: The Necessity of War" 
• History: "The Perfect War: Operation Desert Shield/Storm

Rationale:

We feel that a topic as large and complex as the Gulf War cannot be covered in just one subject area. Therefore, a more integrated curriculum is necessary. An interdis-ciplinary approach creates a more comprehensive curriculum in order to fully cover the subject. Through studying business aspects, students will learn the economic effects of war as well as some of the true motivations behind the 1990 Gulf War. In History, stu-dents will learn of the events that lead up to the conflict and the events that transpired be-tween August 1990 and March 1991. By studying these events, students will explore the motivations and causes of the war. In Political Science, students will study the morality and ethics of the war by studying Gulf War. Finally, in Biology, students will study the motivations and effects of biological warfare, which was a great fear in the conflict. Through the various curricula in this integrated approach, students will better understand how the Gulf war is indeed an interdisciplinary situation that is relative to their personal lives.

Objectives:

Biology: 

• 1) Given class discussion and activities, students will be able to give an example of each of the 3 main types of biological/chemical weapon dispersal techniques, with 80% accuracy. 
• 2) Students will be able to describe differences between old and new chemical weapon agents (used in war), with 80% accuracy. 
• 3) After participating in a bacteria lab, students will be able to explain why bacteria are efficient agents of warfare, with 80% accuracy. 
• 4) After investigating warfare agents using the internet, students will be able to explain the conditions caused by 3 different biologi-cal/chemical warfare agents used during the Gulf War, with 70% accu-racy. 
• 5) After completing the unit, students will be able to explain their own opinion regarding the use of biological and chemical agents during war, using facts learned during the unit to illustrate their opinions.

Business: 

• 1.) Students will be able to form a graph or worksheet table in Excel of the costs endured before, during, and after the Gulf War. 
• 2.) Students will use information gained about budgets to form their own budget of the Gulf War costs

Political Science: 

• 1.) Students will demonstrate a knowledge of Just War Theory as it applies to the Persian Gulf War through an in class debate, requiring at least four cause-effect arguments supporting the students' positions. 
• 2.) Students will further demonstrate a knowledge of Just War Theory through an individual position paper. The students must support their positions with at least four cause-effect.

History: 

• 1.) Given class discussion and activities, students will be able to give the three direct causes of the Gulf War. 
• 2.) Students will be able to describe at least two of the difficulties of a multitude of countries in a complicated alliance such as the Coalition. 
• 3.) Students will gain a personal viewpoint of the war through inter-views of Gulf War veterans. 
• 4.) Students will be able to establish three ways in which the Gulf War illustrated how technology has changed the face of warfare.

Resources Needed:

• Computers equipped with an internet browser and "Office 97" · 
• Bacteria Cultures
• TV/VCR · Movie: Outbreak
• Microsoft Office 97 Advanced Concepts and Techniques
• Introduction to Business - Our Business and World Economy by Betty J. Brown and John E. Clow

Unit Description

Biology: 

• Students will participate in a lab to investigate the rate of bacterial growth. This will help illustrate the reality of bacteria as an agent of warfare (i.e. it is quick and fairly easy to grow these cultures). The movie Outbreak will be viewed in order for students to gain an appreciation for the panic and techniques that occur during viral outbreaks, such as could occur in war. One day will be spent investigating the specific warfare agents used during the Gulf War. Students will be challenged to bring back data regarding the costs of such warfare and relate this to the economics of different types of warfare. During this investigation they should also find information regarding past wars and the agents used during those wars. After all of these activities, students will be asked to take a position regarding the issue of using these types of warfare agents and prepare a short paper and speech on their view.

Business: 

• This Introduction to Economics and Personal Finance class will begin a unit on budgeting and financial planning. This will incorporate using Excel software to prepare the budget and graphs. The example that will be covered is the costs of the Gulf War at different periods of time. The budget will consist of different cost elements of the war. Examples of these costs may include: oil prices artillery, U.S. aid to other countries, transportation, medical costs, supplies, etc. Students will be required to consult with His-tory and Biology students to research different aspects of the budget. Other resources such as Internet, magazines, newspapers, etc. may be used to further their research.

Political Science: 

• This lesson will be preceded by a lesson on the power to declare war and make peace as stated in the United States Constitution. It will be followed by a lesson on the role of citizens in the time of warfare with an emphasis placed on the media coverage of protests and opposition during the Gulf War. The lesson itself will consist of three class periods. The first period will introduce the concept of Just War Theory to the students and familiarize them with concepts such as proportionality, just cause and last resort as outlined in Michael Walzer's Just and Unjust Wars. Students will also be given readings to complete on opposing views to Just War Theory such as pacifism and non-violent re-sistance. At the end of class the students will be required to share their ideas on the day's topics and to give their thoughts on pacifism in a journal entry of at least one page. The students must also prepare at least two questions to ask the guest speaker about his/her experiences in the Gulf War. One of these questions must make use of Just War termi-nology. During the second class period a veteran of the Gulf War will come to speak to the class about his or her experiences during the war. The students will ask questions and will be required to write at least one page in their journals on how their beliefs on paci-fism have changed, if at all, due to the speakers information. In the final class period the students will use the information they have gained from the previous two days as well as information posted by cooperating teachers in their respective rooms to debate the just or unjust nature of the Gulf War. The students will do this in teams of four, and will each be required to give one cause-effect reason each sup-porting their positions.

History:

• During the first class period, students will learn, through lecture. about the Iran-Iraq War and the events of the 1980s that lead up to the Gulf War in 1990. In the second lecture, students will be given an overview of the events of the War from August 1990 through March 1991. Once the students have been supplied with the necessary back-ground information through the lectures, they will be paired off and assigned a veteran of Operation Desert Storm to interview. The students will then write a topic paper based on their interviews. Students will then conclude the unit by delivering a brief presentation to the class on their papers and interviews.

Evaluation:

Biology:

• 1) Students will be given a ten point, short answer, quiz on methods of dispersal, and warfare agents used during the Gulf War. 
  
• 2) Students will be expected to carry out a lab and turn in a lab write-up on the speed of bacterial growth. 10 pts. 
  
• 3) Students will be evaluated on the completeness of the data they return from the inter-net investigation. They will be expected to bring back information on 5 agents used dur-ing the Gulf War, data on the cost of such agents, and at least one reference to the use of this type of warfare agent in a past war. 25pts. 
  
• 4) At the culmination of the unit, students will be asked to take a position (for or against) regarding the use of biological/chemical warfare agents and their use in war and prepare a one-page paper detailing their view. They will then give a short, 2-4 minute, speech to the class explaining their position. This will be evaluated based upon their use of facts to back up their positions, clarity/cohesiveness of the presentation, and the grammar of the paper. 50 pts. Total

Business:

• Students will be evaluated on their ability to present the budget in a concise and organized format, like the example covered in class discussion. They will also be graded on their use of Excel and creation of graphs and charts that show the distribution of money during the Gulf War.

Political Science:

• The group work will comprise 30% of the final grade, and as stated above, will require at least four cause-effect reasons supporting the groups position. Another 60% of the grade will come from a two page position paper which will ask the student to evaluate the Just War Theory philosophy and to state their agreement or disagreement to its ten-ants. The final 10% of the grade will come from the completion of the journal assign-ments. At the end of the third class period a final secret ballot will be taken to decide if America did the right thing in fighting in the Persian Gulf War.

History:

• Students will be evaluated on the information presented in the two lectures through a fifty point, twenty-five question, short answer and multiple choice quiz. Stu-dents will be further evaluated on their topic papers, which will be the majority of their grade in the unit. Finally, students will be graded on their presentations to the class.

References:

Flippin, M., Anthony, M., Ruehr, B., Feather, B., and Lee, D. "Chemical and Biological Terrorism" [On-line]. Available: http://www.calpoly.edu/~drjones/terror. html (9/28/00). 

Walzer, Michael. Just and Unjust War: A Moral Argument with Historical Illus-trations. New York: Basic Books, 1977.