Dust Bowl

Background Information:The Dust Bowl was a decade-long catastrophe that swept up 100 million acres of topsoil in Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, Colorado and New Mexico. It was caused by several concurrentfactors—rising wheat prices, a series of unusually rainy years, and generous federal farm policiesprompting a land boom. Encouraged by improved cultivation methods and cheap land, thousandsof Americans flooded the southern Plains to raise grain and cattle, chasing the American dreamof owning land and securing their future.

(Excerpt taken from-

Activity 1 Part 1: (Day 1)

Complete the Inquiry Activity Below:

The visual below represents a catastrophic event that occurred in the United States. A loss was occurring that affected the lives of many people. Although this photo was taken about 80 years ago, events like this still have the potential to occur. Think about the effects that this catastrophe had on the lives of the people involved as well as environment in the region.

Using your textbook and the text, develop an argument to support the best soil conservation technique that could have be used to conserve the soil in the photograph above. Your argument should include evidence from the text to support your claim.

Activity 1 Part 2: (Day 1)

(Before the Video)

Students should answer the question below prior to watching the PBS Video:

What do you know about the Dust Bowl? What visual pictures come to mind when you think about the United States in the 1930s?

Dust Bowl Video-

(This video gives excellent first-hand accounts of the Dust Bowl. The video is “lengthy”. Perhaps it would be best shown in 2-3 parts. If time is an issue you can have the students watch part of it in class and assign other parts to watch for homework throughout the course of study. The students should be able to get a very vivid depiction of the Dust Bowl from watching the first 25-30 minutes of the video. You can stop the video periodically to discuss the role that soil conservation techniques or, the lack thereof, played in the development and exacerbation of the Dust Bowl. )

(During the Video)

Students should complete the guiding questions during the PBS Video:

  1. What was the Dust Bowl?
  2. What climatic weather conditions caused the Dust Bowl?
  3. What states were directly affected by the Dust Bowl?
  4. Describe how the people were affected by the Dust Bowl?
  5. How did people respond to the severe conditions of the Dust Bowl?

(After the Video)

Students should answer the question below after watching the parts of the PBS Video:

If you had been part of one of the farm families in the plains during the 1930s, do you think you would have wanted to stay on your farm or leave? List the pros and cons of leaving or staying on your farm during the Dust Bowl Era.

Homework

  1. On a map of the United States identify the states that were most affected by the Dust Bowl. Describe the following information for each state: topography (terrain), general weather patterns, sources of water (river systems), and economic activity (farming, ranching etc.)
  2. Describe the conditions that created the “perfect storm” for the Dust Bowl to occur in the Great Plains.

Activity 2 (Days 2 and 3)

  1. Divide the students into groups of 4. Have each person select a topic from the list below to research. Students should be able to effectively and extensively articulate the impact the Dust Bowl had on the following areas in the 1930s:
  • Economy (The impact of the Dust Bowl on the local, regional, and national economy. How did the Dust Bowl effect jobs, goods and services, supply and demand etc.?)
  • People (The effect on homes (property value), health-dust pneumonia, way of life-Black Blizzards)
  • Environment/Land (Land Degradation/Desertification due to over farming explain how the processes occurred in Great Plains)
  • Government- (Governmental Response to the Dust Bowl- New Deal, Soil Conservation Service etc.)
  1. After the students from each group have selected their topic, they can independently research their topic or they can collaborate with other students who have the same topic. Students must use evidence from at least 3 different sources (Articles and Sites) to support their research.
  2. After completing the background research, students will share their findings with their group.
  3. Below you will find a brief list of research articles and informational sites.Please do not limit yourself to this list. This will get you started on your quest to an understanding of how humans impacted the environment in the context of the Dust Bowl phenomena.

Research Articles:

Article 1: The Drought-

Article 2: The New Deal-

Article 3: Black Sunday-

Article 4: The Dust Bowl Article 1- See Attachment

Article 5: Dust Bowl 1934-1938 Article 2- See Attachment

Article 6: Dust Bowl Article 3-

Article 7: On the Cause of the Dust Bowl Article 4-

(You have to download the file and make it a PDF in order to see the image)

Article 8: Dust Bowl 2013-See attachment

Research Sites:

Site 1-

Site 2-

Site 3-

Site 4-

Assessment (Days 3-5)

Using the information you gathered from your research of how the Dust Bowl impacted the economy, the people, the environment, or the government, compose a personal narrative. Write from a character’s (human or nonhuman) point of view of how the Dust Bowl affected the character’s life/existance.

Your personal narrative should include, but not be limited to or by, the following:

  • 4-5written paragraphs (minimum) or create a video documentary of the character’s account in first person.
  • Character’s name, family life, occupation (if applies), description of the character’s thoughts and feeling about how the Dust Bowl has affected daily life, description of what the character’s life was like prior to the Dust Bowl, description of the character’s hopes and aspirations about the future, and other pertinent information that lends insight about the character
  • Be creative, but factual, using the information from your research.

See Suggested Rubric Below:

Dust Bowl Narrative

CATEGORY / 4 / 3 / 2 / 1
Focus on Assigned Topic / The entire story/documentary is related to the assigned topic and allows the reader/viewer to understand much more about the topic. / Most of the story/documentary is related to the assigned topic. The story wanders off at one point, but the reader/viewer can still learn something about the topic. / Some of the story/documentary is related to the assigned topic, but a reader/viewer does not learn much about the topic. / No attempt has been made to relate the story to the assigned topic.
Requirements / All of the requirements (# paragraphs, character background information-reference to research) were met. / Almost all (about 85%) the requirements were met. / Some (about 70%) of the requirements were met, but several were not. / Many requirements were not met.
Accuracy of Facts / All facts presented in the story/documentary are accurate. / Almost all facts presented in the story/documentary are accurate. / Most facts presented in the story/documentary are accurate (at least 70%). / There are several factual errors in the story/documentary.
Creativity / The story/documentary contains many creative details and/or descriptions that contribute to the reader's/viewer’s enjoyment. The author has really used his imagination. / The story/documentary contains a few creative details and/or descriptions that contribute to the reader's/viewer’s enjoyment. The author has used his imagination. / The story/documentary contains a few creative details and/or descriptions, but they distract from the story/documentary. The author has tried to use his imagination. / There is little evidence of creativity in the story/documentary. The author does not seem to have used much imagination.