Decide which cause mattered most, and say why
Grade 7 Social Studies Worksheet
Circle the best answer.
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The Dust Bowl (cards A to C; summaries in our words). Card A, weather: in the 1930s the southern Great Plains had a long drought, and strong winds blew across the open land. On April 14, 1935, a huge dust storm, remembered as Black Sunday, darkened the sky across the region. Card B, farming: the roots of prairie grass held the soil in place. In the 1910s and 1920s, when wheat prices were high, farmers plowed up millions of acres of prairie grass to plant wheat. When the drought came, much of that land had no grass or crop to hold the soil. Card C, the response: in 1935 the United States government created the Soil Conservation Service. Farmers were taught to plant rows of trees as windbreaks and to plow along the curves of a slope. Rain returned around 1939 to 1941, and the storms eased.
Which statement best weighs drought against plowing as causes, Ari asks?
- Neither mattered, because wind alone moved the soil
- Drought was the trigger, and plowing left soil bare: both mattered
- Drought explains the dust storms, because plowing is not on card A
- Plowing explains the storms, because high wheat prices caused it
Black Sunday was in 1935, and rain returned around 1939 to 1941. About how many years later did rain return, Bo asks?
- About 14 to 16 years
- About 3,874 to 3,876 years
- About 4 to 6 years
- About 24 to 26 years
A student says, "Card A proves the drought alone caused the dust storms." How strong is that claim, Esme asks?
- Weak: card B shows bare plowed land mattered too
- Strong: card A says the storms began in the 1910s with the first plowing
- Weak: weather cannot cause a dust storm, just people can
- Strong: card A names the drought and the wind, which is enough to explain it
Which order of causes fits cards A and B, Jun asks?
- Drought came first and farmers then plowed up the grass to plant wheat
- High wheat prices led straight to dust storms, with nothing between
- High prices led to plowing; drought and wind then moved bare soil
- Wind lifted the soil first and high wheat prices then followed
Which cause could farmers have changed before the drought, Kira asks?
- The price of wheat, by agreeing together to sell it for less money
- How they used the land: plowing grass up and leaving soil bare
- The drought, by choosing to plant a different crop each year
- The wind, by planting rows of trees before the 1910s began
Records show less soil blew away from farms that kept grass in place during the same drought. What does that support, Milo asks?
- Card B: land cover mattered, not only weather
- That drought played no part in the dust storms
- That wheat prices fell during the 1930s
- That the wind did not blow on the farms that kept their grass
Suppose a farm of 640 acres had 75 percent of its prairie grass plowed up for wheat. How many acres were plowed, Pia asks?
- 480 acres
- 4,800 acres
- 715 acres
- 160 acres
A student says, "Card C proves the Soil Conservation Service ended the dust storms." How strong is that claim, Ren asks?
- Strong: card C says the Service brought back the rain
- Strong: the Service was created in 1935 and the storms eased afterward
- Weak: a government service cannot affect what happens on farms
- Weak: card C says rain also returned, so more than the Service helped
These cards summarize accounts written later. Which source would add evidence from the time, Tala asks?
- A modern map of the southern Great Plains
- A forecast written in 1950 about the next drought
- Photographs and letters from farmers in 1935
- A new textbook that sums up the same events
Which detail best supports the claim that farming practice was a cause, Zee asks?
- Card C: rain returned around 1939 to 1941 and storms eased
- Card B: grass roots held the soil, and plowing took the cover
- Card A: Black Sunday darkened the sky across the region
- Card A: strong winds blew across the open land of the plains