Famine and Dust: Dust Bowl

Famine and Dust: Dust Bowl — page 1 — The Dust Bowl took place in the 1930s It took place in areas around the Great Plains This included Kansas Colorado Oklahoma Texas and New Mexico States around them were impacted too Big dust storms covered the land People couldn’t breathe Some people and animals choked to death Houses were buried Really big dust storms were called black blizzards People couldn’t see They couldn’t move The worst dust storm was called Black Sunday It took place on Sunday April 14 1935 Winds traveled at high speeds Dust storms took over cities Dust darkened the skies Living in the Dust Bowl was hard People had to move Many migrated to California There were jobs in California Poor farmers who migrated were called Okies 4 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Famine and Dust: Dust Bowl — page 2 — FlAsH FACT Many people built farms on the Great Plains in the early 1900s Vocabulary Great Plains GRAYT PLAYNZ area of flat land in the middle of the United States blizzard BLIZ-urd a really bad snowstorm with high winds migrated MYE-grate-id moved from one area to another 5

Famine and Dust: Dust Bowl — page 3 — FlAsH FACT Dust storms billowed over the plains Some rose up to 10,000 feet high Vocabulary severe suh-VEER very difficult or harsh drought DROUT a long period of no rain dry season starved STAHRVD suffered from lack of food graze GRAZE to eat grass in a field cattle KAT-uhl a group of cows environment en-VYE-ruhn-muhnt natural world 6

Famine and Dust: Dust Bowl — page 4 — The Dust Bowl was caused by several things First there was a severe drought This drought lasted 10 years The soil became dry It turned to dust The land became a desert Farmers could no longer grow crops People starved Second farmers plowed the land to grow wheat or to graze cattle Wheat doesn’t hold the soil The land was treated badly This destroyed the grass and soil Farmers had changed the environment The land started to blow away The government helped Programs were created to help farmers Programs were created to give people jobs Rain came in 1939 This ended the drought About 2 5 million people migrated About 7,000 people died 7

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