Diamond 9: Why did Japan invade Manchuria?

This outstanding resource has been designed to provide stretch and challenge for students studying reasons why Japan invaded Manchuria in 1931 -1932? The pedagogy underpinning this strategy is that when we rank items, either statements, objects or images, we are required to make explicit the over- arching relationships by which we organise our knowledge and connect our learning. It canalso be used as a starter, plenary, revision or assessment activity. If you are looking for something more suitable for lower and middle ability then please check out my card sort matching exercise on this topic.

The resource includes nine diamond shaped cards which include a range of factors which explain why Japan invaded Manchuria. The document is provided in Microsoft Word so you can edit the resource if you wish to customise it further by changing any of the key factors that I have included. Once students have cut out the cards out they are set three tasks including:

1. Remove any reasons that you don’t think are important. Record and explain why you have removed them.
2. Arrange the remaining diamonds to show any links that you can find between the different reasons. Record and explain your reasons.
3. Make a smaller diamond shape using the four most important reasons to explain why Japan invaded Manchuria? Record and explain the reasons for your choices.

At each stage students should be feeding back to their group or the class and explaining their choices. The discussion and explanation around the choices that they have made are critical in helping them develop their thinking skills as well as their understanding of the topic.

The aims and objectives for this lesson are:

Theme: Why did the League of Nations fail 1919 - 1939?
Know: Why did Japan invade Manchuria 1931 - 1932?
Understand: How were these factors were linked to the weaknesses of the League?
Evaluate: Which factors were the most important in Japan’s decision to invade?

WILF - What Am I Looking For?
Identify and describe: Why Japan invaded Manchuria?
Explain: How these reasons were linked to the weaknesses of the League?
Analyse: Which factors were the most important in Japan’s decision to invade?

If you like this resource then why not check out my other resources on this topic in my TES shop. You can also follow ‘The History Academy’ on Twitter, Google Plus, YouTube and Facebook for the latest updates or even to get in touch and chat about how you have used this resource or to ask questions. We aim to produce cheap and affordable resources for either the price of a good cup of coffee or a happy meal so that you can spend more time doing the things that you want.

Anyway, have fun and stay in touch via social media for the latest updates.

Kind Regards

Roy