OUT OF THE DUST: OVERCOMING
HARDSHIPS
Robyn Gloyd, Rebecca Jones, Dan Olsen,
Amber Pool, & Mike Sycz
University of West Florida
Summary
This unit, “Out of the Dust: Overcoming Hardships,” will focus on the multiple ways
communities work through hardships, using the experiences of the Great Depression and
Oklahoma dust bowl survivors as a reference point and example. Created for fifth grade
students, this unit will allow students to explore the ways communities face hardships, how
they can overcome them, and examples of hardships they find within their own communities.
By integrating math, social studies, science, language arts, and visual art, the students will
learn about how people experience and overcome hardships. Throughout this unit, students
will examine how humans overcome hardship by exploring true and fictional accounts of the
Great Depression and dust bowl survivors, examining the ways humans impact their
environments and vice versa, exploring the ways hardships impact creative ability and vice
versa, and examining the ways in which the people in a community help one another in the
midst of hardships.
Our unit will begin by exploring the theme of overcoming hardships by learning about the
Oklahoma dust bowl and its survivors, but this will only be the starting place for the
exploration of ways people survive difficulties in their own communities.
Major concepts
Language Arts
 Note taking
 Compare and Contrast
 Using graphic organizers
 Essay writing
Art
 Two-dimensional collage art
 Three-dimensional collage art
 Connection between visual art and the real world
 Identifying Hobo Signs and their uses
major concepts
Social Studies
 Causes and effects of the Market Crash of 1929
 Great Depression: Start to finish
 Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal
 The Dust Bowl and Modern Migration
Science
 Causes and effects of erosion on the environment
 Water Cycle
 How ecosystems function
 The scientific method
 Collecting and analyzing data
 Being responsible with environmental resources
major concepts
Math

Graph differentiation (bar, line, circle)

Graph interpretation

Graph analysis

Graph making
Sunshine state standards
Language Arts
Standard: Reading Process, Reading Comprehension- The student uses a variety of strategies to comprehend grade level text.
LA.5.1.7.3 Benchmark Description: The student will determine the main idea or essential message in grade-level text through inferring,
summarizing, and identifying relevant details
paraphrasing,
LA.5.1.7.6 Benchmark Description: The student will identify themes or topics across a variety of fiction and nonfiction selections
LA.5.1.7.8 Benchmark Description: The student will use strategies to repair comprehension of grade-appropriate text when self-monitoring
indicates confusion,
including but not limited to rereading, checking context clues, predicting, note-making, summarizing, using graphic and
semantic organizers, questioning, and
clarifying by checking other sources.
LA.5.1.7.7 Benchmark Description: The student will compare and contrast elements in multiple texts
Standard: Writing Process, Prewriting- The student will use prewriting strategies to generate ideas and formulate a plan.
LA.5.3.1.1 Benchmark Description: The student will prewrite by generating ideas from multiple sources (e.g., text, brainstorming, graphic
writer's notebook, group discussion, printed material) based upon teacher-directed topics and personal interests;
organizer, drawing,
LA.5.3.1.3 Benchmark Description: The student will prewrite by organizing ideas using strategies and tools (e.g., technology, graphic organizer,
KWL chart, log).
Standard: Drafting- The student will write a draft appropriate to the topic, audience, and purpose.
LA.5.3.2.1 Benchmark Description: The student will draft writing by using a prewriting plan to focus on the main idea with ample development of supporting details,
elaborating on organized information using descriptive language, supporting details, and word choices appropriate to the
selected tone and mood;
LA.5.3.2.2 Benchmark Description: The student will draft writing by organizing information into a logical sequence and combining or deleting
enhance clarity
sentences to
Sunshine state standards
Language Arts
Standard: Revising- The student will revise and refine the draft for clarity and effectiveness.
LA.5.3.3.2 Benchmark Description: The student will revise by creating clarity and logic by deleting extraneous or repetitious information and
tightening plot or
central idea through the use of sequential organization, appropriate transitional phrases, and introductory phrases and
clauses that vary rhythm and
sentence structure.
LA.5.3.3.4 Benchmark Description: The student will revise by applying appropriate tools or strategies to evaluate and refine the draft (e.g.,
checklists, rubrics).
peer review,
Standard: Publishing- The student will write a final product for the intended audience.
LA.5.3.5.1 Benchmark Description: The student will prepare writing using technology in a format appropriate to audience and purpose (e.g.,
multimedia);
manuscript,
LA.5.3.5.3 Benchmark Description: The student will share the writing with the intended audience.
Standard: Communication, Listening and Speaking- The student effectively applies listening and speaking strategies.
LA.5.5.2.1 Benchmark Description: The student will listen and speak to gain and share information for a variety of purposes, including
interviews, dramatic and poetic recitations, and formal presentations; and
personal
LA.5.5.2.2 Benchmark Description: The student will make formal oral presentations for a variety of purposes and occasions, demonstrating
appropriate
language choices, body language, eye contact and the use of gestures, the use of supporting graphics (charts, illustrations,
images, props), and
available technologies.
Sunshine state standards
Visual Arts
Standard: Skills and Techniques-The student understands and applies media, techniques, and processes.
Benchmark VA.A.1.2.1: The student uses and organizes two-dimensional and three-dimensional media, techniques, tools, and
produce works of art that are derived from personal experience, observation, or imagination.
processes to
Benchmark VA.A.1.2.2: The student uses control in handling tools and materials in a safe and responsible manner.
Benchmark VA.A.1.2.4: The student uses good craftsmanship in a variety of two-dimensional and three-dimensional media.
Standard: Creation and Communication- The student creates and communicates a range of subject matter, symbols,
and ideas using knowledge of structures and functions of visual arts.
Benchmark VA.B.1.2.1: The student understands that subject matter used to create unique worksof art can come from personal
observation, imagination, and themes.
experience,
Standard: Cultural and Historical Connections- The student understands the visual arts in relation to history and
culture.
Benchmark VA.C.1.2.2: The student understands how artists have used visual languages and
symbol systems through time and across cultures.
Standard: Applications to Life- The student makes connections between the visual arts, other disciplines, and the real
world.
Benchmark VA.E.1.2.1: The student understands the influence of artists on the quality of everyday
life.
Sunshine state standards
Social Studies
Standard: Time, Continuity, and Change [History]
The student understands selected social and cultural transformations of the 1920’s and 1930’s (for example, impact of the automobile,
women).
racial
The student understands the social and economic impact of the Great Depression on American society (for example, business failures,
foreclosures, breadlines).
tensions, role of
unemployment, home
Standard: People, Places, and Environments [Geography]
The student extends and refines use of maps, globes, charts, graphs, and other geographic tools including map keys and symbols to gather and
draw conclusions about physical patterns (for example, in the United States).
The student knows how regions in the United States are constructed according to physical criteria and human criteria.
The student understands varying perceptions of regions throughout the United States.
The student understands reasons certain areas of the United States are more densely populated than others.
The student understands ways the physical environment supports and constrains human activities in the United States.
The student understands ways human activity has affected the physical environment in various places and times in the United States.
interpret data and to
Sunshine state standards
Social Studies
Standard: Production, Distribution, and Consumption [Economics]
The student knows examples from United States history that demonstrate an understanding that all decisions involve opportunity
making effective decisions involves considering the costs and the benefits associated with alternative choices.
costs and that
The student understands that scarcity of resources requires choices on many levels, from the individual to societal.
The student understands the basic concept of credit.
The student understands that any consumer has certain rights (for example, an individual, a household, a government).
The student understands the roles that money plays in a market economy.
The student understands basic services that banks and other financial institutions in the economy provide to
consumers, savers, borrowers, and businesses.
The student knows ways the Federal government provides goods and services through taxation and borrowing (for example,
defense).
Math
Standard: Data Analysis and Probability
Students will interpret, analyze, and compare data represented on line graphs or double bar graphs.
Students will identify, interpret, or describe a graph that shows a quantity that changes over time.
highways, military
Sunshine state standards
Science
Standard: Force and Motion
Uses scientific tools (for example, stopwatch, meter stick, compass) to measure speed, distance, and direction of an object.
Standard: Processes that Shape the Earth
Understands how atmospheric pressure affects the water cycle.
Understands how eroded materials are transported and deposited over time in new areas to form new features (for example, deltas, beaches,
dunes).
Knows that rocks are constantly being formed and worn away.
Understands how the surface of the Earth is shaped by both slow processes (for example, weathering, erosion, deposition) and rapid,
example, earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes).
cataclysmic events (for
Extends and refines knowledge of ways people can reuse, recycle, and reduce the use of resources to improve and protect the quality of life.
Standard: How Living Things Interact with Their Environment
Understands how changes in the environment affect organisms (for example some organisms move in, others move out; some organisms
others die).
survive and reproduce,
Sunshine state standards
Science
Standard: The Nature of Science
The student understands that although the same scientific investigation may give slightly different results when it is carried out by
persons or at different times or places, the general evidence collected from the investigation should be replicable by others.
different
The student understands that scientists use different kinds of investigations (for example, observations of events in nature, controlled
depending on the questions that they are trying to answer.
experiments)
The students understand the importance of accuracy in conducting measurements, and uses estimation when exact measurements
The student understands the importance of communication among scientists (for example, informing and becoming informed about
investigations in progress and the work of others; exposing ideas to the criticism of others).
The student uses strategies to review, compare and contrast, and critique scientific investigations.
The student knows an experiment must be repeated many times and yield consistent results before the results are accepted.
The student uses sketches and diagrams to propose scientific solutions to problems.
The student constructs models to compare objects in science.
The student makes a prediction for a new investigation using data from a previous investigation.
The student selects appropriate graphical representations (for example, graphs, charts, diagrams) to collect, record, and report data.
are
not possible.
scientific
Learning goals
Language Arts

To be able to assess prior knowledge about a subject, set personal learning goals, and assess learning that has been
accomplished

To develop compare and contrast skills.

To develop and strengthen note taking skills

To develop and strengthen writing skills, such as using graphic organizers, pre-write, edit, and publish

Develop creative writing skills
Art

To identify the key components in creating two-dimensional and three-dimensional collage art.

To apply those component skills into making a two-dimensional and three-dimensional pieces of collage art.

To be able to identify hobo signs and their uses.

To be able to depict the lifestyle of someone living during the Great Depression and display it in their art projects.
Learning goals
Social Studies

To identify the events that led to the Market Crash of 1929 and the key historical events during the Great Depression
through class lecture and watching the PBS documentary The Panic is On.

To understand the social repercussions of the Great Depression such as unemployment, foreclosures, breadlines,
and the welfare system through watching the PBS documentary The Panic is On.

To identify how individuals and the government overcame the hardships of the Great Depression through class
lecture, and watching video interviews of survivors of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl.

To understand that scarce resources requires individuals and governments to make difficult decisions through class
lectures.

To identify the primary cause of modern migration and the consequences migration has on the social make-up of
regions through class lectures and examining the Dust Bowl migration of the 1930s.
Learning goals
Math



To be able to interpret and identify the key components in linear, bar, and pie graphs.
To apply those skills in constructing linear, bar, and pie graphs using continuous data from select periods of time.
To be able to differentiate between linear, bar, pie, and circular graphs.
Science
To be able to learn about different causes and effects of erosion.
To be able to learn how to purify water with household items.
To be able to understand what caused the Dust Bowl and what its effects were on the environment.
To be able to record and organize data from the class experiments.
Student learning outcomes
Language Arts

When provided with the subject The Dust Bowl, students will be able to, within a fifteen minute duration, describe
what they know about the subject with a partner, summarize their knowledge, and present their knowledge with the
class.

Students will be able to compare and contrast hardships experienced in Out of the Dust, with those their community
has faced, with 80% accuracy.

As a culminating activity, a group of students will be able to select an event from Out of the Dust and re-tell it,
answering who, what, where, when, and why questions, in a newspaper article format, with 80% accuracy, and
present article to classmates, teacher, and parents.

To prepare for a two page essay, students will be able to create an essay map recalling specific generous acts from
the story Out of the Dust, and be able to describe the help that was given, the reason the person needed the help, and
details about the person who provided the help, with 100% accuracy, based on created developed rubric.

Students will be able to write a five paragraph essay describing a generous act from the story , Out of the Dust, using
supporting details and information from the story, an effective organizational pattern, and correct punctuation,
grammar, and sentence structure with 80% accuracy, based on teacher created rubric.

While reading/listening to the story, Out of the Dust, students will be able to attend to the story, ask questions
relevant to the story and answer comprehension questions with 80% accuracy.
Student learning outcomes
Visual Arts

The student will be able to correctly identify hobo signs and their uses on a 25-question test, with 80% accuracy.

Given the materials, the student will be able to create a two-dimensional collage hobo sign that could be used in
today’s world, with 80% accuracy based on class rubric.

The student will be able to cooperate with another peer to create a diorama depicting the lifestyle of Depression Era
people, with 80% accuracy based on a class rubric.

The student will be able to give a presentation about their diorama and explain why they chose that specific lifestyle
to depict and how the Dust Bowl affected that lifestyle, with 80% accuracy based on class rubric.

Given the materials, the student will be able to create a two-dimensional collage poster to advertise either the talent
show or the president's ball from Out of the Dust, with 80% accuracy based on a class rubric.

The student will be able to give a presentation about their collage poster and answer class questions given at the
beginning of the project, with 80% accuracy.
Student learning outcomes
Social Studies

Students will be able to answer their own KWL assessment from the beginning of the unit, with 80% accuracy.

Students will be able to write a 3-5 page paper on the Great Depression, with 80% accuracy based on a class rubric.

Students will demonstrate understanding of the personal hardship that individuals faced during the Great
Depression and the Dust Bowl by writing a series of journal entries based on their own fictional character from the
era, with 80% accuracy based on a class rubric.

Students will be able to answer a five question short answer quiz on modern migration, with 80% accuracy.
Student learning outcomes
Science

Student will be able to know the causes of wind erosion and answer questions related to the experiment on what
causes and what are the effects of this type of erosion with 80% accuracy.

Student will be able to effectively purify water with household items provided and answer questions on how the
filtration process works with 80% accuracy.

Student will be able to correctly record and organize data from their experiments with 90% accuracy.

Student will be able to complete a KWL chart on what caused the Dust Bowl and answering "want to know"
questions with 75% accuracy.
Math

The student will correctly create X and Y axes on line paper with 100% accuracy.

The student will correctly label X and Y axes on line paper with 100% accuracy.

The student will correctly identify line graphs, bar graphs, and/or circle graphs with 100% accuracy.

The student will correctly plot data points on line paper with 80% accuracy.

The student will correctly create data intervals on line paper with 80% accuracy.
Lesson plan overview
Language Arts
The Language Arts component of this ITU will explore the ways communities overcome hardships by
reading the story, Out of the Dust, a fictional account of one family's struggles and triumphs and those of
their community of farmers in Oklahoma during the dust bowl. Students will complete a KWL chart,
examining what they already know about the dust bowl, what they want to know, and culminating in what
they learned. They will compare and contrast the experiences of the characters in the story with those
struggles in their own community. They will learn note taking skills as they keep a story journal to use
throughout the unit. They will learn how to effectively use an essay map and will write a five paragraph
essay describing a generous act from the story. As a culminating activity, the students will chose events
from the story to present in a newspaper format, which will be presented at the class parent's night.
Lesson plan overview
Visual Arts
The visual arts component of this interdisciplinary thematic unit will focus on the students’
understanding and application of two-dimensional and three-dimensional art. Students will use a variety
of media to explore the lifestyles of those living during the Great Depression. The first week, students
will take one of two excerpts from the book Out of the Dust, by Karen Hess, and use them create a twodimensional collage poster. Students will also be paired up for their diorama home project, which will
depict the lifestyle of someone living during the Great Depression. The second week, students will watch
a documentary called Riding the Rails about teenagers who were forced to survive on their own by
traveling on trains to get from one destination to the next. After the documentary, the students will be
introduced to hobo signs, a form of communication that hobos used during the Great Depression to give
information and warnings to fellow travelers. The students will study hobo signs and be given a test on
them. During the last week of the unit, the students will create their own hobo sign that could be useful
for a traveler today. They will also bring in their completed dioramas and share them with the class. All
the students’ artwork will be on display during the culminating parents night.
Lesson plan overview
Social Studies
The Social Studies component of this interdisciplinary unit will examine how Americans overcame
hardships during the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl in 1930s America. Students will begin the unit
by beginning a KWL assessment on the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. Students will then examine
the economic factors leading up to the market crash of 1929 and collapse of the banking system.
Afterwards, the unit will cover the social effects and hardship associated with the Great Depression
including unemployment, inflation, foreclosures, breadlines, and the welfare system. The unit will also
cover the Dust Bowl in the Midwest with a lesson on modern migration and its effects on the social
make-up of a region including overpopulation, under population, and discrimination.Students will be
given a 5 question short answer test on modern migration. Finally, the lesson will conclude with an
examination of the New Deal policies and how the United States eventually pulled itself out of the Great
Depression. Students will work on a personal Great Depression/ Dust Bowl migration journal and a 3-5
page paper on the Great Depression throughout the unit, and will complete their own KWL assessment at
the end of the unit. Students will display their journals and paper in a portfolio on the culminating
parent’s night.
Lesson plan overview
Science
The Science component of this interdisciplinary unit will focus on erosion and how ecosystems on earth
change through natural occurrences and through human intervention. Students will learn from reading
accounts of the Dust Bowl what were the chain of events that led to the catastrophe. Students will conduct
experiments to learn what are the causes and effects of erosion. Students will learn about using the
scientific method to investigate the question of what caused the Dust Bowl and what can people do to
prevent that type of event from happening again.
Math
The math component of our unit will focus on reading and understanding linear graphs. Students will
learn how to understand raw data from the Dust Bowl era (1934) and construct a graph using temperatures
from 1934 and 2009. Students will learn how to label axes correctly, plot data points, and connect the data
points on graph paper. The lesson fits into the ITU as part of a greater understanding of the impact these
high temperature have on our environment and communities overall.
Culminating activities
As a culminating activity, the class will be hosting a parent night where they will have the
opportunity to display a project from each of the disciplines they explored as they
examined the theme, Overcoming Hardships. The following projects/presentations will
be shown:
 A newspaper article depicting favorite scenes from the story, Out of the Dust
 Collage art poster depicting scenes from the story, Out of the Dust, diorama depicting
the lifestyle of someone living during the Great Depression, and modern day hobo signs
 Portfolio containing personal migration journals and Great Depression papers
 Science experiment
 Linear or bar graphs created by each student showing the variations in Oklahoma
temperature highs from 1934 and 2009.
Unit schedule-week one
Subjects
Monday
Language
Arts
KWL-Dust bowl activity, Continue reading Out of
Continue reading Out of
Continue reading Out of
Begin reading Out of
the Dust. Students work in the Dust. Students work in the Dust. Students work in
the Dust, Introduce
story journals.
story journals. Compare story journals.
story journal
and Contrast Activity.
assignment.
Finish reading Out of the
Dust. Students work in
story journals. Add to
KWL chart.
Science
KWL on Erosion and
Introduction to what
caused the Great Dust
Bowl
Continue experiment on
wind erosion, do data
analysis with class
Math
Visual Arts
Social
Studies
Tuesday
Lesson on different kinds
of erosion. Students
answer questions on
erosion in handout
Wednesday
Thursday
Watch video from website Experiment on Wind
USDA-ARS Wind Erosion Erosion
Research Unit and explore
maps
Friday
Identification of graphs: Creating X and Y axes on Group practice creative
Linear graphs.
graph paper. Correctly
line graphs with actual
plotting temperatures on temperature data.
graph paper.
Students independently
create and plot
temperatures.
Introduction to student
homework: graphing daily
temperatures for the
following week.
Introduction to Art and
The Great Depression
Introduction to collage art Assign partners for
project (in class)
diorama project. KWL with
diorama partner and
Brief discussion on
complete diorama
diorama home project
worksheet with partner.
(send home instructions
Begin diorama project at
for parents to read.)
home.
Explanation of in class
collage poster on Out of
the Dust. Begin collage
project.
Continue work on collage
poster
KWL on the Great
Depression
The Bank Fallout – show The beginning of the Great
beginning part of PBS
Depression
documentary The Panic is
On on the Great
Depression
Introduce paper topics and
begin showing showing
students how to find
resources for their papers
Unemployment,
foreclosures, and
breadlines – group
discussion on how current
events are similar to the
Great Depression
Introduction to the
Market Crash of 1929
Unit schedule-week two
Subjects
Language
Arts
Monday
Introduce essay
assignment. Introduce
essay maps-work on in
class.
Tuesday
Wednesday
Finish essay maps. Begin Work on essays.
writing essay.
Science
Short film: Soil Erosion by Lesson reviewing the
Wind and its Control
water cycle and the
drought causing the dust
storm/ Brief NASA film on
causes of the Dust Bowl
drought
Math
Introduction of bar and pie Students examine rainfall Collaborative work on bar Students indiviudally
graphs.
data from Dust Bowl era. graph construction using create bar graphs using
rainfall data from 1934.
rainfall data from 2009.
Students share graphing
results from previous
week's assignment.
Visual Arts
Complete collage posters Share posters with class. Finish sharing posters.
Watch PBS special Riding
Question and Answer time Introduction to hobo signs. the Rails.
about posters based on
assessment rubric.
Finish Riding the Rails.
Class discussion on the
movie and how the
teenagers had to
overcome the hardships of
the Great
Depression…use of hobo
signs
Social
Studies
Franklin Roosevelt and the Watch 2nd part of The
New Deal
Panic is On
Assign 1st part of Great
Depression/Dust Bowl
Migration Journal
Students share first part of
their Great
Depression/Dust Bowl
Migration Journal
Brief lesson on water
irrigation and a students
will do a question packet
on the water cycle.
Watch final part of The
Panic is On
Thursday
Students should be in
editing phase of essays.
Friday
Finish essays.
An experiment on how
farmers try to keep dirt
from drying up.
Continue experiment and
analyze data
Library day to work on
Great Depression papers
Unit schedule-week three
Subjects
Monday
Tuesday
Students work on
Language Introduce newspaper article
activity and divide students into newspaper activity.
Arts
groups. Discuss upcoming
parent's night.
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Students finish newspaper Finish KWL chart with
activity.
everything students
have learned.
Prepare for parent's
night.
Continue experiment and
analyze which household
was the best for
purification.
Have student prepare
display of their favorite
experiment for parent
night
Science
KWL on water purification and
lesson on ways we need water
Experiments on using
household objects to
purify water.
Math
Students begin individual
project: Students design and
create their own bar or linear
graph.
Individual graph project. Individual graph project.
Assessment and review Student's finalize
of graphs: axes, plotting indiviual graph projects
data, and labeling.
for display.
Work on and complete
hobo signs.
Test of hobo signs.
Dioramas due.
Student's share
dioramas.
Modern Migration
Assign 2nd part of Great
Depression/Dust Bowl
Migration Journal
The end of the Great
Depression
Short answer quiz on
Great Depression papers
modern migration
due
Students share 2nd part
Group discussion tying
of journal
up the unit – students
answer their own KWL
questions
Visual Arts Hobo signs collage assignment.
Students will create their own
hobo sign.
Social
Studies
The Dust Bowl
Present overview of
what was learned in the
past three weeks and 20
question test
Student's share
dioramas.
Assessments
 KWL assessment on the Great Depression and the dust bowl
 5 question short answer essay test on modern migration, teacher created rubric
 Circle area of the Dust Bowl on Map
 Teacher created rubric for two essays
 Teacher created rubric for two journals
 Teacher created rubric for newspaper article
 Teacher observation sheet for presentation of newspaper article
 25 question test on Hobo Signs
 Riding the Rails Art Project
 KWL assessment on the cultural aspect of the Dust Bowl (i.e. style of dress, how house looked,
what people did for fun, etc.)
Assessments
 Partner project on creating and presenting a diorama of the Dust Bowl
 Collage poster project on Out of the Dust
 Dust Bowl line graphing.
 Daily temperature line graphing.
 Precipitation line graphing.
 Unemployment bar graph. Students chart unemployment statistics during 1930 (the year
following market crash of 1929 and first year of Dust Bowl).
 Class experiment on erosion, teacher created rubric
 20 Question test on the causes and effects of the Erosion
 Class experiment on Water Filtration, teacher created rubric
Media List
• Books
Weather almanac handouts
• TV
Select websites
• DVD player
Map of the United States
• Lap top
On-line videos
• Printer
• Projector
• DVDs
References-Books
 Barnes, R. (1987). Teaching Art to Young Children 4-9. London, UK: Unwin Hyman LTD.
 Guthrie, W. (1940). Dust Bowl Ballads (CD). Buddha Recording Label.
 Hesse, K. (1997). Out of the Dust: A Novel. New York, New York: Scholastic Inc.
 Uys, M. and Lovell, L. (Producers and Directors). (1998). Riding the Rails. United States: WGBH
Studio.
 Macmillan & McGraw-Hill (2003). Our Nation. New York: Author.
References-websites

http://cdo.ncdc.noaa.gov/pls/plclimprod/somdmain.StateSubQry?DataSet=MONTHLY&StateAbbv=OK&OutDe
st=FILE&StateMthd=STATION&ForceOutside=&SortOrder=COOP

http://weather.about.com/od/imagegallery/ig/Global-Warming-Images-Graphs.--5K/1934-US-TemperatureRecords.htm

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/research/prelim/drought/zimage.html

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/research/drought/palmermaps/?index=zndx&month%5B%5D=5&beg_year=1934&end_year=1934&submitted=Submit

http://www.teachervision.fen.com/tv/printables/orange/ss-102.pdf

http://1269.educatorpages.com/Page.aspx?p=1267

http://www.shmoop.com/great-depression/graphing-depression-statistics-activity.html

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/03/040319072053.htm

http://www.weru.ksu.edu/vids/dust002.mpg

http://www.classzone.com/books/earth_science/terc/content/visualizations/es1205/es1205page01.cfm?chapter_no
=visualization
References-websites

http://www.livinghistoryfarm.org/farminginthe30s/water_02.html

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/dustbowl/

http://www.weru.ksu.edu/new_weru/multimedia/dustbowl/dustbowlpics.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Depressionhttp:/

www.english.illinois.edu/maps/depression/depression.htm

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/rails/

http://www.google.com/images?q=The+great+depression&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:enUS:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF8&source=univ&ei=6ydXTMKGMIm8sQPpjKHaAg&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=4&ved=0C
D0QsAQwAw&biw=1128&bih=515

http://www.worldpath.net/~minstrel/hobosign.htm

http://www.livinghistoryfarm.org/farminginthe30s/movies/hankel_money_01.html

http://www.livinghistoryfarm.org/farminginthe30s/movies/hankel_money_04.html