The Manhattan Project

Description:  The Manhattan Project was a massive research and development project that included scientists, engineers and the army to create the first nuclear weapon. It required the creation of a massive industrial complex across the country that spent over $2 billion to create bombs that were later used against Japan. Most of the cost of the project went into creating fissile material (material capable of sustaining a nuclear fission chain reaction). This project can be used as an anchoring phenomenon in a unit on nuclear physics and the processes of fission, fusion, and radioactive decay.

Web Resources:  David Hahn - Wikipedia, The Radioactive Boy Scout - Harpers