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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. Why did the soil blow away in the 1930s?
  2. 2. When was Black Sunday?
  3. 3. Why did many families lose their farms?
  4. 4. Which road did many families take to California?
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.What is a migrant?
  • A.A person who never leaves home
  • B.A kind of storm
  • C.A person who moves from one place to another, often for work
4.In 1889 a dam failed above Johnstown, Pennsylvania. What happened?
  • A.Nothing, because the dam was empty
  • B.A flood destroyed the town and killed more than 2,000 people
  • C.The town got more water for its farms
5.In 2005 Hurricane Katrina flooded most of New Orleans when the levees failed. What happened to many residents?
  • A.They moved to cities such as Houston, and many never returned
  • B.They moved to the flooded areas
  • C.They all returned the next day
6.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

LessonPrint · D2.Geo.9.3-5 · Set 6 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Disasters That Moved Americans

Set 6. 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. April 14, 1935. 3. Crops failed and animals died, so they could not pay the banks. 4. Route 66.
  2. 2.Brick and stone instead of wood
  3. 3.A person who moves from one place to another, often for work
  4. 4.A flood destroyed the town and killed more than 2,000 people
  5. 5.They moved to cities such as Houston, and many never returned
  6. 6.Moved north to cities such as Chicago

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