The Dust Bowl

Western Oklahoma In the late 1800s and early 1900s many people relocated to Oklahoma with the dream of owning and farming their own land. They settled and began to farm the land and they were prosperous for decades. They did not know that the western area of Oklahoma was subject to drought. They did not know that their farming techniques, mixed with the terrible drought conditions, would bring about one of the worse eras in Oklahoma’s history.

The Dirty Thirties Living Through the Oklahoma Dust Bowl During the 1920s farmers began using improved farming equipment to farm the land. They farmed almost 5 million acres of land that had not been farmed before. Farmers produced more wheat than ever before, but because people were too poor to buy the wheat because of the Great Depression farmers were unable to make the money back that they needed to produce their next crop.

Black Blizzards Farmers continued to plant their crops. The droughts didn’t go away and the land that had once been protected by the drought resistant prairie grass was exposed to the high winds of the plains. By 1932, black blizzards were being reported. There would be 40 in the first year.

Dust Pneumonia Dust storms in Oklahoma became routine and while they destroyed the fields they also created a new health threat to people and animals. Dust pneumonia is a serious lung infection caused by the prolonged exposure to dust. It causes difficulty in breathing, coughing and chest pains. Live stock, children and elderly were especially vulnerable to this painful, potentially life threatening illness. More than 7,000 Oklahomans died from dust pneumonia or dust related illness.

Assignment The lungs are the critical part of the respiratory system. Without our lungs, we could not survive. 1.Work in pairs and use the Internet to find the parts of the lung. 2.Locate and label the parts of the lung on your diagram. 3.Put both your names on your paper. When you finish use the Internet to research other respiratory illnesses.