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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 20 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.

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Set 1 has all 25 in a single PDF. All 25 sets ask different questions.

Disasters That Moved Americans

D2.Geo.9.3-5

NameDate

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. 1. Why did the soil blow away in the 1930s?
  2. 2. How were many of the migrants treated in California?
  3. 3. When was Black Sunday?
  4. 4. Why did many families lose their farms?
2.After the Chicago fire of 1871, what did the city require for new downtown buildings?
  • A.Tents instead of buildings
  • B.Brick and stone instead of wood
  • C.Straw roofs
3.Why did many families rebuild San Francisco after 1906 instead of leaving?
  • A.The earthquake had made the land flat
  • B.It was the nation's capital
  • C.Its harbor made it too important a port to abandon
4.In 1900 a hurricane struck Galveston, Texas, killing thousands. What did the city build afterward?
  • A.A tall seawall, and it raised the ground the city stood on
  • B.A canal to the Pacific Ocean
  • C.A new airport
5.In 1889 a dam failed above Johnstown, Pennsylvania. What happened?
  • A.A flood destroyed the town and killed more than 2,000 people
  • B.Nothing, because the dam was empty
  • C.The town got more water for its farms
6.Which disaster was made worse by the way people used the land?
  • A.An earthquake
  • B.A volcano erupting
  • C.The Dust Bowl, after grassland was plowed up

LessonPrint · D2.Geo.9.3-5 · Set 20 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Disasters That Moved Americans

Set 20. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. The grass that held the soil had been plowed up, and a long drought dried it out. 2. Many found only low-paid work, and some were treated as unwelcome outsiders. 3. April 14, 1935. 4. Crops failed and animals died, so they could not pay the banks.
  2. 2.Brick and stone instead of wood
  3. 3.Its harbor made it too important a port to abandon
  4. 4.A tall seawall, and it raised the ground the city stood on
  5. 5.A flood destroyed the town and killed more than 2,000 people
  6. 6.The Dust Bowl, after grassland was plowed up

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to D2.Geo.9.3-5 of the C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards.