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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.

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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. About how many people left the Plains states in the 1930s?
  2. 2. Why did the soil blow away in the 1930s?
  3. 3. Why did many families lose their farms?
  4. 4. What does this text not tell you about the families who stayed?
2.In 1927 the Mississippi River flooded huge areas of the South. What did many Black farm families do afterward?
  • A.Stayed on the flooded land forever
  • B.Moved to Alaska to mine gold
  • C.Moved north to cities such as Chicago
3.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
4.In 2005 Hurricane Katrina flooded most of New Orleans when the levees failed. What happened to many residents?
  • A.They moved to the flooded areas
  • B.They moved to cities such as Houston, and many never returned
  • C.They all returned the next day
5.After the Chicago fire of 1871, what did the city require for new downtown buildings?
  • A.Brick and stone instead of wood
  • B.Tents instead of buildings
  • C.Straw roofs
6.In 1889 a dam failed above Johnstown, Pennsylvania. What happened?
  • A.The town got more water for its farms
  • B.Nothing, because the dam was empty
  • C.A flood destroyed the town and killed more than 2,000 people

LessonPrint · D2.Geo.9.3-5 · Set 24 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Disasters That Moved Americans

Set 24. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. About 2.5 million people. 2. The grass that held the soil had been plowed up, and a long drought dried it out. 3. Crops failed and animals died, so they could not pay the banks. 4. It does not tell you how the families who stayed on the Plains got through the drought.
  2. 2.Moved north to cities such as Chicago
  3. 3.The Dust Bowl, after grassland was plowed up
  4. 4.They moved to cities such as Houston, and many never returned
  5. 5.Brick and stone instead of wood
  6. 6.A flood destroyed the town and killed more than 2,000 people

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