Curated OER
Dark Days on the Prairie
Fourth graders research the location and causes of the Dust Bowl in 1935. In support, they interpret photos from that period in Oklahoma history, They also compare/contrast the American Dust Bowl to the dust storms that occurred in...
Curated OER
Dark Days on the Prairie
Students explore U.S. geography by researching agriculture. In this dust bowl activity, students complete a cause and effect worksheet based upon the dust bowls that covered a large portion of Oklahoma and Texas in the early 1900's....
Curated OER
Weathering and Erosion
Students perform experiments to simulate weathering and erosion. In this earth science lesson, students view a PowerPoint presentation that includes weathering, erosion, and the Dust Bowl. Students conduct a series of experiments to...
ReadWriteThink
Designing Museum Exhibits for The Grapes of Wrath: A Multigenre Project
Challenge readers of John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath to create a museum exhibit that uses artifacts to focus on one issue raised by the award winning story of the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl, and the Joads.
Penguin Books
A Teacher’s Guide to the Penguin Edition of John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath
The dry Oklahoma landscape in America's Dust Bowl sent many farmers in search of the promised land. A teacher's guide to John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath discusses the characters' desire for a better home along with other themes and...
Curated OER
Dust Bowl Story
Students compose narratives describing the difficulties faced by those living in the Dust Bowl. They use resource sheets and photos in this small group activity. Their stories include plots, settings, and characters either taken...
Real World Learning Objects
The Grapes of Wrath - Using Historic Photos as Literary Symbols
Here's a great resource packet to use with a study of The Grapes of Wrath. Individuals select historic photos from the Library of Congress's American Memory Collection and create a photo report album to represent a scene from John...
Curated OER
The Dust Bowl and the Ogallala Aquifer
Students research the characteristics of the Great Plains as an agricultural area. They examine farming techniques from the past and how those farming techniques are used today. They investigate the present uses of the Ogallala Aquifer.
Curated OER
The Impact of the Dust Bowl as Shown Through Photography
Seventh graders examine and discuss photographs and paintings of the Dust Bowl era. They write a journal entry describing what it would be like if they stepped into one of the photographs, and create a Powerpoint presentation on the Dust...
Curated OER
The Dust Bowl
Students discover the causes of droughts. In this Dust Bowl instructional activity, students follow the provided steps to complete a hands-on activity that demonstrates drought conditions. Students write summaries about the Dust Bowl.
Curated OER
Arkansas and the Dust Bowl
Students access and use the Farm Security Administration and Office of War Information, American Memory collection and Todd and Sonkin collection for research. They develop research skills and strategies, such as key word searches to...
Curated OER
Climate/Dust Bowl
Students read the novel " Out of the Dust" and identify environmental issues. They select one of those issues to research and create a slideshow explaining their research and present it to the class.
Curated OER
About Life: The Photographs of Dorothea Lange Going to the Promised Land
To better understand the migrant experience during the Great Depression, pupils analyze two primary resources: photographs by Dorothea Lange and a U.S. Map that shows the Dust Bowl. They compare and contrast Lange's images to Steinbeck's...
Curated OER
The Grapes of Wrath: KWHL Strategy
Before beginning The Grapes of Wrath, readers create a KWHL chart recording what they already know about the Dust Bowl, the author, and the book, what they want to know, and where they might find answers to these questions. After reading...
Curated OER
Losing Ground
Students examine how effects of farming practices in the early 20th Century contributed to severe soil erosion of a large portion of the North American grasslands.
Curated OER
Documenting the Great Depression
Students compare and contrast two photographs from the Great Depression, and identify the ways in which the photographers depicted the hardships of everyday life during this period. They hypothesize about the story behind each photograph...
Curated OER
Great Depression: Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
Add this presentation to your unit on the Great Depression as a strong informational supplement. With clear learning objectives, details on the 1929 stock market crash, and the effects of the Great Depression (though it's spelled...
Eastland FFA
Grapes of Wrath Movie Questions
John Ford's 1940 film version of John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath is the subject of a 23-question worksheet designed to accompany a viewing of the film. The questions not only focus viewers on events, but also ask them to make...
Curated OER
The Great Depression and New Deal
Elementary pupils are introduced to the Great Depression as a critical period of hardship in United States history. They engage in collaborative assignments researching the Dust Bowl, the New Deal, US presidents, and presidential libraries.
Via Sapientiae at DePaul University
The Great Depression of the 1930s
A 10-lesson unit takes young historians through a study of The Great Depression and life in the 1930s. The crash of the stock market, the Dust Bowl, unemployment, and mass migration west are all addressed through the analysis of primary...
Stanford University
Migrant Mother Photograph
A picture often has hidden stories to tell. Looking at the iconic Migrant Mother photography by Dorothy Lange, individuals examine the human toll of the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression at large. Other documents, including a statement...
Curated OER
Who Wants to Be a Media Center Millionaire?
Challenge your readers with a fun game of "Who Wants to Be a Media Center Millionaire?" Questions cover the novels A Long Fatal Love Chase, The Last Years of Merlin, and Out of the Dust. The first eight slides compose all the questions;...
Curated OER
How Much is Dirt Worth?
Dirt is worthless, isn't it? Find out the true value of dirt, and by dirt I mean soil. The class explores what makes soil, the types of soil, and what happens when soil becomes void of its nutrients. There are several great activities,...
Curated OER
The Roaring Twenties
Let's take a look back at America during the 1920s and 1930s. Information regarding the economics in the 1920s that led to some of the issues during the 1930s are covered using text and images. Learners will consider economic booms,...