Dust Bowl Disaster

Dust Bowl Disaster
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The middle of the United States, known as the “Great Plains,” is a land of open fields and rolling hills. For many years, people thought this area was too dry to grow crops on. But about a hundred years ago, some brave farmers started to move here. They were going to try growing crops and raising animals!

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Farmers pulled out the tall prairie grasses to make room for crops like wheat and corn. Surprisingly, the soil and land were actually very good for farming! There was just enough rain to keep their crops growing.

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For a while, farmers grew large harvests of crops. They had plenty of food to eat and even extra to sell. They had no idea they were about to face one of the biggest farming disasters in history…

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In the 1930s, something changed. Prairie winds picked up dry soil and carried it away as giant clouds of dust. Go to the next slide to check out images of the dust storms.

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The dust storms came again and again. Each dust storm carried away more soil. Dust covered everything: buildings, streets, cars, and crops. The storms went on for many years. People call this time period the “Dust Bowl.”

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Get a See-Think-Wonder chart to record your ideas. Your teacher will add your ideas to the class chart.

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THINK-PAIR-SHARE:

  • What do you notice about how the land was changed during the Dust Bowl?
  • What other changes in the elements do you notice?

Record your answers in the SEE column of your chart.

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THINK-PAIR-SHARE:

  • How would farming have affected the land?
  • What natural changes may have impacted the land?

Record your answers in the THINK column of your chart.

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THINK-PAIR-SHARE:

  • What else do you wonder about what caused the Dust Bowl?

Record your answers in the WONDER column of your chart.

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Farmers lost their crops and livestock during the Dust Bowl. With no food to eat, people had no choice but to leave.

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What had gone wrong? What caused the Dust Bowl? It took years for scientists to figure out all the pieces to this puzzle.

One thing that might help us understand the Dust Bowl is to think about where it took place. When studying a place, scientists look at the land, water, air, and living things.

In this activity, you'll explain how the land, water, air, and living things affected each other during the Dust Bowl. It's okay if you don't know how all of these elements interacted yet--you'll add new information to your model after each Mystery.

We'll walk you through it, step by step.

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Now it's time to do some investigations! In this unit, you'll explore how land, water, air, and living things interact on Earth. This will help you figure out what happened to cause the Dust Bowl. At the end of the unit, you will use your Dust Bowl model to choose the best solution for preventing another Dust Bowl!

Have fun, and stay curious!

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You've completed the Unit Starter!

Be sure to keep each student's Causes of the Dust Bowl worksheet accessible. They will revise it after each Mystery.

Teach Mystery 1 next: How much water is in the world?

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Image & Video Credits

Mystery Science respects the intellectual property rights of the owners of visual assets. We make every effort to use images and videos under appropriate licenses from the owner or by reaching out to the owner to get explicit permission. If you are the owner of a visual and believe we are using it without permission, please contact us—we will reply promptly and make things right.

Other
1940's: United States: Lady picks up baby from dust storm by Video used unde license from Pond5.com: AV Geeks
Boise valley wheat field by Image used under license from Flickr.com: WaterArchives.org
Buried Machinary Barn Dallas by Image used under license from Shutterstock.com: Everett Historical
Carriage with a horse under blue sky by Image used under license from Shutterstock.com: Adamsoc Studio
Dry Lake Bed by Tim J Keegan
Dust Bowl Farm House by Image used by Geoengineeringwatch.org
Farmers with horses plowing fields by Image used under license from Shutterstock.com: Vyntage Visuals
Plain with some grass and flowers by Image used under license from Shutterstock.com: Michael Rosebrock
Power farming displaces tenants by Image used under Public Domain from Wikimedia: Dorthea Lange
Sandstorm timelapse by Video used under license from Pond5.com: Tadinski13
Soil Drifting Over Farm Building by Image used under license from Shutterstock.com: Everett Historical
Credits

Activity Prep

Print Prep

Note: This lesson is part of this unit’s Anchor Layer. If you have the Anchor Layer turned on, we recommend teaching all lessons in the remainder of this unit in order.

The anchor phenomenon for this unit is the Dust Bowl. Students generate observations and questions about the phenomenon and create an initial model to explain how Earth's four spheres interacted to cause the Dust Bowl.

Preview activity
Number of students:
Causes of the Dust Bowl worksheet 1 per student
Causes of the Dust Bowl Answer Key teacher-only resource 1 per class
See-Think-Wonder worksheet 1 per student
Watery Planet Teacher Guide teacher-only resource 1 per class
Prep Instructions

Before starting this lesson, review the unit Teacher Guide for an overview of the Watery Planet Anchor Layer.

The anchor phenomenon for this unit is the Dust Bowl. In the activity, they create an initial conceptual model to explain how the Earth's four spheres interacted to cause the Dust Bowl. Students will re-visit their model after each Mystery to add new information to it.

It is important to encourage students to recognize that even if they don't know the perfect answer yet, they are going to learn a lot throughout the unit and have an opportunity to change or add to their first model.

Step 1: Set up your classroom by creating a class "See-Think-Wonder" chart (the student version is linked below). We recommend using chart paper, or a space on your board that won't be erased since you will revisit it throughout the unit.

Step 2: Print out worksheets Each student needs a:

The Causes of the Dust Bowl Answer Key will help you support students throughout the unit. Students are not expected to have these answers until the end of the unit.

Extend this lesson

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