Decide which cause mattered most, and say why

Grade 7 Social Studies Worksheet

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   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.

2. 1.

   Which statement best weighs drought against plowing as causes, Ari asks?

   • 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
   • Neither mattered, because wind alone moved the soil
3. 2.

   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
   • 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
   • Strong: card A says the storms began in the 1910s with the first plowing
4. 3.

   Which order of causes fits cards A and B, Jun asks?

   • High wheat prices led straight to dust storms, with nothing between
   • Drought came first and farmers then plowed up the grass to plant wheat
   • Wind lifted the soil first and high wheat prices then followed
   • High prices led to plowing; drought and wind then moved bare soil
5. 4.

   Which cause could farmers have changed before the drought, Kira asks?

   • The price of wheat, by agreeing together to sell it for less money
   • The wind, by planting rows of trees before the 1910s began
   • The drought, by choosing to plant a different crop each year
   • How they used the land: plowing grass up and leaving soil bare
6. 5.

   Cards A and B together explain why strong winds moved so much soil. What is the best statement, Luz asks?

   • Winds blew more because plowing makes the wind stronger
   • Winds crossed open land where plowing had removed the grass
   • Winds carried the soil because farmers had burned the prairie grass
   • Winds were strong enough to move soil from any land, grass or not
7. 6.

   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
8. 7.

   What changed between Black Sunday in 1935 and the early 1940s, Noah asks?

   • Nothing changed until the 1950s, when new laws were passed
   • The Soil Conservation Service ended the drought, so the storms stopped
   • Farmers plowed up more grass to restore wheat, and storms grew worse
   • Farmers added windbreaks and rain returned, so the storms eased
9. 8.

   Suppose a farm of 640 acres had 75 percent of its prairie grass plowed up for wheat. How many acres were plowed, Pia asks?

   • 4,800 acres
   • 480 acres
   • 715 acres
   • 160 acres
10. 9.

    A student says, "Card C proves the Soil Conservation Service ended the dust storms." How strong is that claim, Ren asks?

    • Weak: a government service cannot affect what happens on farms
    • Strong: card C says the Service brought back the rain
    • Strong: the Service was created in 1935 and the storms eased afterward
    • Weak: card C says rain also returned, so more than the Service helped
11. 10.

    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
    • A new textbook that sums up the same events
    • Photographs and letters from farmers in 1935