Name_____________________________________________ Date___________
Surviving the Dust Bowl
Please complete this study guide as you watch the film on the Dust Bowl.
1. What year did the rain stop?
a. 1931
2. How long did the Dust Bowl last?
a. 8-10 years
3. What happed to the people who actually lived through and experienced the Dust
Bowl?
not
a. lost all of their means to make a living; had to leave because they could
farm; crops were destroyed
4. Describe the Southern Plains.
a. The land was untouched, lush and green, but there is a never ending
cycle of drought and rain.
5. What did the farmers plant on the land in the Southern Plains?
Wheat
6. What happened to the weather in the 1930’s?
a. The rains stopped
7. Did all the farmers leave the Southern Plains during the Dust Bowl? How many
left?
a. No but most did leave. 2.5 million people moved out of the Plains;
200,000 moved to California
8. What were the dust storms called?
a. Black Blizzards
9. Describe what it was like to experience a dust storm.
a. It was like a blizzard.
10. What did the people spit out?
a. dirt
11. What did people believe was happening when they were experiencing a dust
storm?
a. End of the world
12. How were the farming conditions in 1931 compared to the rest of the country?
a. excellent
13. What was the land and soil like before farmers plowed it?
a. Chocolate, rich
14. What didn’t the farmers know about the land when they started to move to the
southern plains?
a. Endless cycle of drought; constant plowing and planting stripped land
of nutrients
15. What drew the farmers to the southern plains?
a. They were paid well for farming wheat
16. What did Washington want from farmers? Why?
a. Wheat for WWI
17. What came to the fields in the 20’s
a. Tractors & farmers
18. How many acres a day could a horse plow?
a. 3
19. How many acres a day could a tractor plow?
a. 50
20. What happened to the fields when the rains stopped?
a. Dried up, dust formed
21. What did the Red Cross do?
a. Handed out dust masks
22. How many acres became waste land?
a. omitted in my class
23. How many dust storms were there in 1932, in 1933?
1932 – 14 dust storms
1933- 38 dust storms
24. How did people protect themselves and their houses from the dust?
a. People hung wet sheets in front of doors and windows, stuffed rags in
windows and cracks
25. What did the Government do to help the farmers?
a. offered relief through Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal
26. What did the govt. do to the cattle, Why?
a. bought and destroyed cattle because the livestock feed depleted
27. In 1935, what problem did farmers face?
a. land was destroyed by jack rabbits that were starving
28. What were rabbit drives, explain?
a. people would go out and hunt jack rabbits (to get rid of them)
29. Describe Black Sunday.
a. April 14, 1935 was the worst day of the Dust Storm; the people
thought that God's wrath was on them for killing the jack rabbits
30. Where did people turn for moral support? the Bible
31. What epidemic hit the plains? Dust Pneumonia
32. What were some home remedies? skunk grease, sugar and turpentine,
kerosene and lard
33. Why did some farmers begin to head West? there had been no rainfall for 4
years What were they in search of? farm jobs in California
34. What happened to the banks, businesses and churches? the banks and businesses
failed and churches were boarded up
35. Who was John McCarty? editor of the Dow Hart Newspaper who started the
Last Man's Club
36. What was the Last Man’s Club? issued the call to arms; meant to build up
courage; the men in the club pledged to stay and do anything to help others
37. What solution did Tex Thorton propose? Use explosion to excite the
atmosphere and induce rain
38. What did Hugh Bennett try to teach farmers? the Father of Soil Conservation;
39. What did Hugh Bennett try to tell Washington? conservation techniques could
restore farming to the southern plains
40. Why did he stall when he was presenting in Washington? because the Dust
Storm was approaching Washington D.C.; the Congressmen would be able to
see what the farmers in the Southern plains were going through
41. What did the Easterners get? what it was like for the Southern Plain farmers;
they could smell, breathe, and taste the dust
42. What did most people think about soil? it was limitless; full of nutrients; could
not be destroyed
43. Describe the film that was created that promoted conservation of soil. "The Plow
that Broke the Plains" paid Melt White's Dad to play a farmer breaking up
the soil; the film showed the farmer's farming practices to be the reason why
the soil was would not grow anything.
44. What did Washington finally do about the problem? paid farmers to use
conservation methods
45. Plowing was no longer done to plant, what was the purpose of plowing? to get
money for surviving
46. What were the results of the conservation efforts? dust blowing reduced by
65% but the drought continued
47. When it finally did rain, how did the farmers feel? extreme happiness; very
emotional; had hope that there would be crops