Dust Bowl Scarcity
An Economic Lesson for students in grades 3-6
From the Center for Economic Education at George Mason University
Angels in the Dust by Margot Theis Raven
ISBN O-B167-3B06-B/Copyright 1997
Background:
Due to cyclical drought and poor farming practices, the environment and
economies of 5 states were devastated during the middle years of the
1930s. What came to be known as the Dust Bowl was called by many who
lived through it "the dirty thirties." Texas, New Mexico, Kansas, Colorado,
and Oklahoma were reduced from fertile farmlands to ravaged waste lands.
Farm families living through this challenging period experienced extreme
scarcity of many basic necessities.
Summary:
Great Grandma Annie's story of growing up during the Dust Bowl in Oklahoma
is both sad and sweet. Annie teachers her sister to write in the dust on the
kitchen table and succeeds in raising vegetables after inventing an irrigation
system. The loss of her mother due to dust pneumonia, though, over
shadows her life and struggles.
Economic Concepts:
Scarcity-A drought is a scarcity of water. A scarcity of water results in a scarcity of food. Needs-Annie's family struggles to meet their basic needs for health care, shelter, food, water, and cleanliness. Natural Resources-Water, land, crops, live stock are all examples of natural resources. Materials:
2 empty, clean tin cans with only one end removed per student
Sturdy cotton cord or twine
Three sentence strips-see #1 below.
Blackline maps of 5 states-Texas, New Mexico, Colorodo, Oklahoma, and Kansas. Wall map of USA Clothes line and clothes pins Procedure:
1. Divide students into 3 groups. Give each group a different sentence
strip with a word missing:
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ is a scarcity of water.
of water.
Drought is a
Drought is a scarcity of _ _ _ _ _ __
Give them a couple minutes to come up with the word that is missing and then share altogether to create a complete sentence. 2. Tell students that the book we are going to read is historical fiction (define term as necessary) about the Dust Bowl and that the Dust Bowl occurred in the mid-west in the middle of the 1930's. Ask, "What else was happening in America in the 1930's?" Great depression. Tell students that the Dust Bowl was caused by drought and by the farming practices used at that time. These harsh methods stripped off the sod and left the top soil vulnerable to erosion. Discuss "erosion". Ask students to predict living conditions after the land was stripped and no rain fell. We'll learn more about this when we read the story. 3. Tell students that the Dust Bowl occurred in the American mid­
west and south west and affected 5 states most harshly. Put students into groups of 5 and distribute on copy each of the 5 black line maps. A US map on display or for each group may be helpful. Ask students to work together to determine the names of their five states. 4. Define "scarcity" and ask students to listen for examples of Scarcity in the story. Read the book. List students' observations concerning scarcity on the board. These
may include: rain/water, top soil, corn, wheat, food, shelter/home,
fresh air.
5. Ask students what the family's basic needs were. List and then use
this list to create a chart of needs. These include in this order:
Medical care/fresh air
Shelter/safety
Water and food
Cleanliness
Apply this list to other stories such as Beatrice's Goat. 6. Note that many of the things that are scarce in the story are natural resources. Define: Natural resources are not made by people, and they are used by people. 7. Give each student a paper plate. Fold the plate into quarters. In one quarter, write NATURAL and the definition above. Then list natural resources mentioned in the story-water, soil/land, corn, wheat, horse, cow, vegetables. The remaining quarters of the plate can be used to define Human, Capital, and Intermediary resources. 8. Write "Make Do" on the board. Discuss how Annie made do in her
vegetable garden using tin cans to create an irrigation system.
Discuss: how else could we put tin cans to good use?
9. Show students tin can telephones and tin can stilts. Allow students
to make their own tin can toy or game--such as can bowling.
Extension:
10. Begin a classroom timeline-using cord and clothes pins--for the
books read in class as we" as a classroom map pinpointing the
location of book events.
11. Art Extension: Shadow pictures
Rachel Powell, Program Coordinator, [email protected]
Center for Economic Education at George Mason University
Fairfax, VA 22030