Up From the Dust

Learning Resource Type

Classroom Resource

Subject Area

Social Studies

Grade(s)

11

Overview

In this interactive game from WNET Thirteen, “Up from the Dust,” players take on the roles of twins Frank and Ginny Dunn, whose family wheat farm is devastated by the Great Depression and Dust Bowl. As they experience the hardships of the 1930s, players learn about Americans’ strategies for survival – as individuals, communities, and a nation. “Up from the Dust” is available online and as free iPad and Windows 10 apps. Teachers need to register for a free account. This game can be played in a whole group or individually. Teachers can download an educator's guide.

Social Studies (2010) Grade(s): 11 - United States History II

SS10.US2.6

Describe social and economic conditions from the 1920s through the Great Depression regarding factors leading to a deepening crisis, including the collapse of the farming economy and the stock market crash of 192[A.1.a., A.1.b., A.1.d., A.1.f., A.1.i., A.1.j., A.1.k.]

UP:SS10.US2.6

Vocabulary

  • assess
  • identify
  • analyze
  • Great Depression
  • stock market crash
  • overproduction
  • speculation
  • Smoot-Haley Tariff Act
  • John Steinbeck
  • William Faulkner
  • Zora Neale Hurston
  • Bonus Army
  • Hoovervilles
  • Dust Bowl
  • Dorothea Lange
  • Jim Crow
  • Japanese Internment
  • Southern Tenant Farmers' Union

Knowledge

Students know:
  • The social, political, and economic conditions from the 1920s through the Great Depression.
  • Social and political factors and policies that were influenced by and that contributed to the deepening crisis during the Great Depression.
  • Economic factors and policies that contributed to the beginning of the Great Depression and the deepening crisis as the Great Depression continued in the United States and globally, including the effects of overproduction, stock market speculation, restrictive monetary policies, the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act.
  • The ways authors' works during the Great Depression were influenced by and influenced the social, political, and economic realities of the time.
  • The impact of the Great Depression on class, region, race, and gender relations during the time period of the 1920s to the 1940s.

Skills

Students are able to:
  • Analyze the social, political, and economic conditions of a specific historical period.
  • Determine and evaluate the factors that contributed to a specific historical period.
  • Evaluate works of art and literature from a specific time period in order to determine their impact.
  • Determine central ideas of primary and secondary sources.
  • Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources.

Understanding

Students understand that:
  • There were various political, social and economic conditions that contributed to the Great Depression.

CR Resource Type

Interactive/Game

Resource Provider

Other

License Type

CUSTOM

Resource Provider other

WNET Thirteen

Accessibility

Graphics: includes alt tags or long descriptions
Video resources: includes closed captioning or subtitles
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