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.

   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 3.5 million a year
   • About 10 a year
   • About 35,000 a year
   • About 350,000 a year
3. 2.

   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?

   • 6 years, counting to the end of the last wave in 1940
   • 9 years, counting from the start of the dry era in 1930
   • 2 years, the gap between the waves of 1934 and 1936
   • 5 years, since 1939 minus 1934 is 5
4. 3.

   Which chain fits card A, Jun asks?

   • Drought and bare fields let storms strip the soil, and families left
   • The drought moved 3.5 million people to California within ten years
   • Families leaving the Plains caused the drought, which left the fields bare
   • Dust storms caused the drought of 1934, which made families leave
5. 4.

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

   • Weak: a photograph by a government worker cannot be used as evidence
   • Weak: one photograph shows one moment and one family, not millions of people
   • Strong: a photograph cannot be changed, so it shows what happened to millions
   • Strong: card A says millions left, so the photograph shows what they looked like
6. 5.

   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?

   • They would tell the same story, since both lived through the same drought
   • The farmer who stayed would describe California better, since staying gives a wider view
   • The farmer who stayed might stress the land; the farmer who left, the move
   • The farmer who left would have no opinion, since leaving ends the story
7. 6.

   Card C is a novel about a made-up family. What can it show, Noah asks?

   • Nothing, since a story cannot say anything about real life or real people
   • The exact number of families who traveled from Oklahoma in 1939
   • The real names of the families who went to California
   • How such a journey might have felt, though the events are invented
8. 7.

   Which would be the best source for checking card A's 3.5 million, Pia asks?

   • Government counts of Plains-state population in 1930 and 1940
   • A novel that mentions many families on the road to California
   • A photograph of one family beside a car on a California road
   • A newspaper article that repeats the 3.5 million figure
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?

   • 2 years; the wave of 1934
   • 2 years; the waves of 1936 and 1939 to 1940
   • 6 years; the waves of 1934 and 1936
   • 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 was used for a wider group than its name suggests
    • The label shows that people from the Plains went to California
    • The label named people born in Oklahoma and no one else
    • 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?

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