Name_____________________________________________________________
Date__________________________
The Great Depression of the 1930's
WebQuest Activity
Part 1: Interpretation of Images
Here you will view each of the images below; You will 'click on' each image, view it carefully and respond to its message. For
example, what does this image say to you? How does this image make you feel? What connections can you make from this
image to present life? In other words, write you inner-most thoughts and feelings! Place your responses neatly on this sheet.
Be sure you write the name of the image before your response. Choose any 3 of your choice.
Train
Migrant Mother
Depression
Unemployed
Duststorms
Picture 1: ____________________________
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Picture 2:
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Picture 3:
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Part 2
Click on the link from Kids Konnect and answer the following question.
Site 1: Kids Konnect
1. Who was the president when the Great Depression began? ______________________________________________
2. The Great Depression would last until the outbreak of which war? ______________________________________
3. The causes of the Great Depression are widely debated. There was no single cause, but several things when working
together made it happen. A weak __________________________ system, an ___________________________________
of goods, over spending, and bursting credit bubble were just some of the reasons.
4. The Wall Street Crash of __________ was one of the main causes of the Great Depression. This stock market crash was the
most devastating crash in the history of the United States. On “_________________________________,” October 29, 1929,
the stock market lost $_________________________, making the loss for that week an astounding $30 billion. It took 23
years for the stock market to hit the high it was at before the crash.
5. As news of the stock market crash spread, customers rushed to their banks to withdraw their money, causing disastrous
“_____________________________.” People who had been very wealthy lost everything they had. Many companies went
out of business and huge numbers of people lost their jobs. At the peak of the depression, 1 out of every 4 people were
without a job. Between 1930 and 1935, nearly 750,000 farms were lost through bankruptcy or sheriff sales.
6. People who lost their homes often lived in what were called “__________________________________________,” that
were named after President Herbert Hoover.
7. What was Hoover Stew? _________________________________________________________________________
8. Newspapers that were being used to cover people like a blanket were called ___________________________________.
_____________________________________were jack rabbits that were used for food. “Hoover Wagons” were broken
down cars that were pulled by mules.
9. Some people who became homeless would ride on _____________________________________, because they didn’t have
money to travel. Some believe that more than 50,000 people were injured or killed while _____________________ trains.
Many of these people traveled together and were called ___________________________.
10. Almost half of the children who were living in the United States at that time did not have enough ___________________,
_________________________, or __________________________________ care. Many suffered diseases. By the 1930s,
thousands of schools were operating on reduced hours or were closed down entirely. Some three million children had left
school, and at least 200,000 took to riding the rails either with their parents or as orphans.
11. List the groups of people who were bitterly discriminated and the hardest hit during the Great Depression?
- __________________________________________________
- __________________________________________________
- __________________________________________________
- __________________________________________________
They were looked at as the groups that could take jobs away from white men. The Great Depression also changed the
family in several ways. Many couples delayed getting married, and divorce rates and birth rates dropped. Some men also
abandoned their families. A 1940 poll revealed that _____________ married women had been abandoned by their husbands.
12. Severe drought and dust storms made the Great Depression even worse, because it dried out farmlands and forced
families to leave their farms. On May 9, 1934, a dust storm carried about ________________________ tons of dirt 2,000
miles eastward and dumped four million tons of prairie dirt in Chicago. The drought and dust killed tens of thousands of
animals and some people.
13. What board game became popular because players could become rich during the playing of the game?
________________________________________________________
14. Who became president in March 1933, and promised a “New Deal for the American people”?
_________________________________________________________
Scroll to the bottom of the page (Kids Konnect) and click on the link  Children and the Great Depression by Digital History
15. To save money, families neglected _____________________ and _____________________care. Many families sought to
cope by planting gardens, canning food, buying used bread, and using cardboard and cotton for shoe soles. Despite a steep
decline in food prices, many families did without ____________ or _________________. In New York City, milk consumption
declined a million gallons a day.
16. The Depression had a powerful impact on family life. It forced couples to delay ______________________ and drove the
birthrate below the replacement level for the first time in American history. The divorce rate _____________, for the simple
reason that many couples could not afford to maintain separate households or pay legal fees. But rates of desertion soared.
17. By 1940, ______________________________________married women were living apart from their husbands. More than
200,000 vagrant children wandered the country as a result of the breakup of their families.
Site 2: 50 Interesting Facts About the Great Depression
18. What was the name of the famous Chicago gangster? ____________________________________________
19. What was the name of the famous photographer who captured images of the Great Depression, including the “Migrant
Mother”? _____________________________________________________
20. _________________________________________ seemed to have first begun in 1935 as a get-rich-quick scheme. The
source of the letters is unknown, but the letters became so popular that post offices around the nation had to hire extra help.
21. Which famous story, produced by Walt Disney, was seen as symbolic of the Great Depression, with the wolf representing
the Depression and the three little pigs representing average citizens who eventually succeeded by working together?
__________________________________________________________________________________
22. During the Great Depression, a number of great structures and buildings were still being built and completed. It provided
jobs to the unemployed. What were some of the structures? 1) _______________________________________________
2) ____________________________________________________________
23. During the Great Depression, many people tried ______________________ selling to avoid the shame of panhandling. In
New York City alone, there were as many as 6,000 apple sellers.
24. Discrimination during the Great Depression against _____________________________ was common, both officially and
unofficially, because they were seen as taking away jobs from men.
25. Severe drought and _______________________________________________________ exacerbated the Great Depression
because it dried out farmlands and forced families to leave their farms. On May 9, 1934, a dust storm carried an estimated 350
million tons of dirt 2,000 miles east ward and dumped four million tons of prairie dirt in Chicago. The drought and dust killed
tens of thousands of animals.