Why people move: push and pull factors on migration maps

Grade 7 Social Studies Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   The Dust Bowl (cards A to D; summaries in our words). Card A, a history summary: a dry era began on the Great Plains in summer 1930. Drought came in three waves, in 1934, 1936 and 1939 to 1940, and regular rain returned in fall 1939. Dust storms blew topsoil off bare fields. About 3.5 million people left the Plains states between 1930 and 1940. Card B, a photograph taken in 1936 in California by Dorothea Lange, who worked for a federal agency that hired photographers to document hard times for farm families. Card C, a novel, The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, published in 1939. It follows a made-up family from Oklahoma who travel to California. Card D, the government's response: a Soil Erosion Service was set up in August 1933, and in 1935 it was renamed the Soil Conservation Service. The word "Okie" was used in California mainly for migrants from Oklahoma, though also for people from nearby states.

2. 1.

   Who made card B, and for what kind of agency, Ari asks?

   • A farm family, who took it to sell to a newspaper in California
   • A scientist, who made it to measure how much topsoil blew away
   • A novelist, who made it to illustrate a story about a made-up family
   • A photographer for a federal agency documenting hard times
3. 2.

   Card A: about 3.5 million people left the Plains states from 1930 to 1940. About how many left each year on average, Bo asks?

   • About 350,000 a year
   • About 3.5 million a year
   • About 35,000 a year
   • About 10 a year
4. 3.

   Card A: drought came in waves in 1934, 1936 and 1939 to 1940. How many years passed from the first wave to the start of the last wave, Esme asks?

   • 9 years, counting from the start of the dry era in 1930
   • 5 years, since 1939 minus 1934 is 5
   • 2 years, the gap between the waves of 1934 and 1936
   • 6 years, counting to the end of the last wave in 1940
5. 4.

   Which chain fits card A, Jun asks?

   • Families leaving the Plains caused the drought, which left the fields bare
   • The drought moved 3.5 million people to California within ten years
   • Dust storms caused the drought of 1934, which made families leave
   • Drought and bare fields let storms strip the soil, and families left
6. 5.

   A student says, "Card B shows what happened to farm families across the Plains." How strong is that claim, Kira asks?

   • Strong: a photograph cannot be changed, so it shows what happened to millions
   • Weak: a photograph by a government worker cannot be used as evidence
   • Strong: card A says millions left, so the photograph shows what they looked like
   • Weak: one photograph shows one moment and one family, not millions of people
7. 6.

   A farmer who stayed on the Plains and a farmer who left for California each look back on the 1930s. How might they differ, Luz asks?

   • The farmer who stayed would describe California better, since staying gives a wider view
   • The farmer who left would have no opinion, since leaving ends the story
   • The farmer who stayed might stress the land; the farmer who left, the move
   • They would tell the same story, since both lived through the same drought
8. 7.

   Why might a federal agency hire photographers to take pictures like card B, Milo asks?

   • To measure rainfall, since photographs record how much rain fell
   • To hide how hard times were so that the public would feel calm
   • To show the public the hard times farm families faced
   • To sell the pictures to farm families as keepsakes of their homes
9. 8.

   Card D: a Soil Erosion Service in August 1933, renamed in 1935. How many years between, and which drought waves came after the new name, Ren asks?

   • 6 years; the waves of 1934 and 1936
   • 2 years; the waves of 1936 and 1939 to 1940
   • 2 years; the wave of 1934
   • 2 years; no waves, since the drought ended in 1935
10. 9.

    Card D says "Okie" was used mainly for migrants from Oklahoma, though also for people from nearby states. What does that show, Tala asks?

    • The label named people born in Oklahoma and no one else
    • The label shows that people from the Plains went to California
    • The label was used for a wider group than its name suggests
    • The label was invented by the people who moved, for their own use
11. 10.

    A student says, "Card A shows most of the 3.5 million went to California." Which reply is best, Zee asks?

    • Supported: card B was taken in California, so California held most migrants
    • Not supported: card A does not say where they went
    • Supported: card C follows a family to California, so most went there
    • Not supported: people cannot be counted when they move