Fill in the blanks in this Dust Bowl timeline. Also, write in the spaces what you imagine the people of this period might have been thinking. 1910s-1920s

Millions of acres of Great Plains grassland are turned into wheat fields. Farmers leave fields unplanted during winter, not knowing what a big mistake this was.

1. What were they thinking? (Why did the farmers do that?)

2. What does a lack of vegetation cause to happen to the soil?

1930s

3. Severe drought begins in parts of the Midwestern and Southern Plains. This means there isn’t enough , and crops wither and die. Black blizzards (huge dust storms) begin blowing.

1933

Even more black blizzards hit the Great Plains area. Many farmers flee to other states, looking for jobs as migrant farm workers.

1930s

4. What were they thinking?

1934

Dust storms and drought continue. Over 75 percent of the country is affected.

1935

April 14: Black Sunday – huge dust storm hits

1936

1935 Worst dust storms of the Dust Bowl. Some people, including nearly 250,000 teenagers, hop freight trains to look for work.

5. What were they thinking?

1940s

Wet weather returns. Farmers replant wheat and grasses.

6. What were they thinking?

1950s

Drought strikes again, but farmers pump out of the Ogallala Aquifer to irrigate crops. Land taken over by the U. S. government is planted with grasses and rows of trees to help stop erosion. Dust storms aren’t as bad.