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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. What does this text not tell you about the families who stayed?
  2. 2. About how many people left the Plains states in the 1930s?
  3. 3. Why did many families lose their farms?
  4. 4. How did the government try to keep the soil from blowing away again?
2.Why did many families rebuild San Francisco after 1906 instead of leaving?
  • A.It was the nation's capital
  • B.The earthquake had made the land flat
  • C.Its harbor made it too important a port to abandon
3.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
4.After the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, where did many families who had lost their homes live for months?
  • A.In tents and camps set up in the city's parks
  • B.On ships sailing to Japan
  • C.In new skyscrapers built that week
5.Why do disasters often cause people to move?
  • A.The government always orders everyone to move
  • B.People like to move after storms
  • C.Homes, farms and jobs can be destroyed
6.In 1900 a hurricane struck Galveston, Texas, killing thousands. What did the city build afterward?
  • A.A new airport
  • B.A tall seawall, and it raised the ground the city stood on
  • C.A canal to the Pacific Ocean

LessonPrint · D2.Geo.9.3-5 · Set 4 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Disasters That Moved Americans

Set 4. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. It does not tell you how the families who stayed on the Plains got through the drought. 2. About 2.5 million people. 3. Crops failed and animals died, so they could not pay the banks. 4. Government workers planted trees as windbreaks, and it paid farmers to plow in ways that kept the soil in place.
  2. 2.Its harbor made it too important a port to abandon
  3. 3.Moved north to cities such as Chicago
  4. 4.In tents and camps set up in the city's parks
  5. 5.Homes, farms and jobs can be destroyed
  6. 6.A tall seawall, and it raised the ground the city stood on

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