The Dust Bowl
COLLECTION
UPPER ELEMENTARY | SOCIAL STUDIES & SCIENCE
The Dust Bowl
Students will explore the causes and effects of the Dust Bowl along with what life was like during the Dust Bowl. They will then model how dust moves and investigate solutions for soil conservation that are good farming practices for today.
Concepts: Soil Conservation
Essential Questions
- How is the surface of the Earth shaped by constructive and destructive processes?
- How was life during the Dust Bowl different than life today?
- How can we conserve our valuable top soil in our farming practices today?
Standards Addressed
Focus
- SS5H5. The student will explain how the Great Depression and New Deal affected the lives of millions of Americans.
- a. Discuss the Stock Market Crash of 1929, Herbert Hoover, Franklin Roosevelt, the Dust Bowl and soup kitchens.
- b. Analyze the main features of the New Deal; include the significance of the Civilian Conservation Corps, the Works Progress Administration, and the Tennessee Valley Authority.
- S5E1. Students will identify surface features of the Earth caused by constructive and destructive processes.
- a. Identify surface features caused by constructive processes.
- Deposition (Deltas, sand dunes, etc.)
- b. Identify and find examples of surface features caused by destructive processes.
- Erosion (water—rivers and oceans, wind)
- Weathering
- Impact of organisms
- a. Identify surface features caused by constructive processes.
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.2. Determine two or more main ideas of a text and explain how they are supported by key details; summarize the text.
Recommended Resources
Online
- Video – Intro to the Dust Bowl: http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/dustbowl/watch-videos/#2284398428
- Video – Environmental Catastrophe: http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/dustbowl/watch-videos/#2284399360
- Video – The Plow that Broke the Plains documentary from 1936 http://archive.org/details/gov.fdr.352.2a.1 (26 minutes)
- Photo Gallery – Dust Bowl: http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/dustbowl/photos/
- Article – Worst Environmental Disaster in the US? https://www.thoughtco.com/worst-us-environmental-disasters-1203696
- Article – 10 Things You May Not Know About the Dust Bowl http://www.history.com/news/10-things-you-may-not-know-about-the-dust-bowl
- Article – What Caused the Dust Bowl http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/dust-bowl-cause.htm
- Interactive Website – What if You had Lived in the Dustbowl? http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/dustbowl/interactive/#homestead
- Oral Histories – Farming in the 1930s http://www.livinghistoryfarm.org/farminginthe30s/water_02.html