Disasters That Moved Americans is a free printable Grade 3 to Grade 5 social studies worksheet on how disasters such as the Dust Bowl moved Americans, aligned to C3 Framework indicator D2.Geo.9.3-5. It prints 6 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions that each ask different questions, so no two students in the class work from the same page. Print it from the browser or download it as a PDF — no account, no email.
Set 1 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.
Read the text and answer the questions, then circle the best answers.
1.Look at the source, then answer the questions.
The Dust Bowl
An information text written for this worksheet.
In the 1910s and 1920s farmers plowed up millions of acres of grassland on the southern Great Plains to plant wheat.
The deep roots of the prairie grass had held the soil in place.
In the 1930s a long drought struck. With no grass and no rain, strong winds lifted the dry soil into huge clouds of dust.
On April 14, 1935, a storm called Black Sunday turned day into night across the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles.
Crops failed, animals died, and many families lost their farms because they could not pay the banks.
About 2.5 million people left the Plains states in the 1930s. Many traveled west on Route 66 to California.
In California many found only low-paid work picking crops, and some were treated as unwelcome outsiders.
Government workers planted rows of trees as windbreaks on farms, and the government paid farmers to plow in ways that kept the soil from blowing away.
1. How did the government try to keep the soil from blowing away again?
2. About how many people left the Plains states in the 1930s?
3. Why did the soil blow away in the 1930s?
4. What does this text not tell you about the families who stayed?
2.Why do disasters often cause people to move?
A.Homes, farms and jobs can be destroyed
B.People like to move after storms
C.The government always orders everyone to move
3.In 1889 a dam failed above Johnstown, Pennsylvania. What happened?
A.The town got more water for its farms
B.A flood destroyed the town and killed more than 2,000 people
C.Nothing, because the dam was empty
4.In 2005 Hurricane Katrina flooded most of New Orleans when the levees failed. What happened to many residents?
A.They all returned the next day
B.They moved to the flooded areas
C.They moved to cities such as Houston, and many never returned
5.Which disaster was made worse by the way people used the land?
A.An earthquake
B.The Dust Bowl, after grassland was plowed up
C.A volcano erupting
6.In 1906 an earthquake and fire destroyed much of which city?
A.Miami
B.Chicago
C.San Francisco
LessonPrint · D2.Geo.9.3-5 · Set 1 · free to copy for classroom use
Answer key — Disasters That Moved Americans
Set 1. Prints on its own sheet.
1.1. Government workers planted trees as windbreaks, and it paid farmers to plow in ways that kept the soil in place. 2. About 2.5 million people. 3. The grass that held the soil had been plowed up, and a long drought dried it out. 4. It does not tell you how the families who stayed on the Plains got through the drought.
2.Homes, farms and jobs can be destroyed
3.A flood destroyed the town and killed more than 2,000 people
4.They moved to cities such as Houston, and many never returned
5.The Dust Bowl, after grassland was plowed up
6.San Francisco
Questions about Disasters That Moved Americans
What does the Disasters That Moved Americans worksheet cover?
It practices how disasters such as the Dust Bowl moved Americans — 6 questions for Grade 3 to Grade 5, all on C3 Framework D2.Geo.9.3-5: Work out how a disaster changes where people live and where they move. The instruction to students is “Read the text and answer the questions, then circle the best answers”, and the answer key follows on the next sheet.
Which C3 Framework indicator does Disasters That Moved Americans practice?
D2.Geo.9.3-5, under Geography for Grade 3 to Grade 5. The published indicator reads: “Analyze the effects of catastrophic environmental and technological events on human settlements and migration.” The worksheet assesses that indicator rather than a paraphrase of it.
What age or grade is this worksheet for?
Disasters That Moved Americans is written for Grade 3 to Grade 5, typically ages 40-41. It is one of the sheets on D2.Geo.9.3-5, so it suits any student working at that standard — including older students revisiting it and younger ones working ahead.
Does Disasters That Moved Americans come with an answer key?
Yes. All 6 answers are generated from the same problems as the questions, so the key cannot drift out of step with the sheet. It starts on a fresh sheet of paper, after the questions, so it is not handed out with the class by accident.
How many different versions of Disasters That Moved Americans can I print?
25 — one per student, and all 25 ask different questions. Set 1 downloads the whole class as a single PDF. Every version is fixed to its own address, so a sheet printed today holds the same problems when you reopen it next week.
Is Disasters That Moved Americans free to print and photocopy?
Yes. Disasters That Moved Americans, its answer key and its 25 versions are free to print and photocopy for your own class, with no account, no email capture and no subscription at the download step. Please do not resell them or republish them as your own.
More practice for D2.Geo.9.3-5
Work out how a disaster changes where people live and where they move.