The Great Depression and the 1930's

A Webquest for:

 "Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry"

 

By Kirsten D'Amato

 

Task

    This is a webquest designed to give you a better understanding of an era called The Great Depression, which took place in the 1930's.  By becoming familiar with  what life was like for Americans during this time, you will have a better perspective of the novel Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry. Your job is to complete each part of the process on a word document.  Be sure to print out each part as you complete it, and compile your findings in a binder or folder that you can present to me when the webquest is completed.  Good luck, and have fun.

Process

#1.  Use the following Websites to help you compile a scrapbook cover of The Great Depression for your binder/folder.  You should have between 4-8 photographs.

       a.  http://history1900s.about.com/library/photos/blyindexdepression.htm

       b.  http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/fsowhome.html

       c. http://asms.k12.ar.us/armem/osmossho/

#2  Use the following Websites to help you create a strong definition of The Great Depression.  Your definition can be presented however you choose.  ( a dictionary entry, through clip art, a timeline, a piece of artwork, etc.

        a.  http://www.42explore2.com/depresn.htm

        b. http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/depression/about.htm

        c.  http://www.encyclopedia.com/html/g/greatd1ep.asp

 #3  Go to the following web page and answer the questions below in complete sentences.

http://www.bergen.org/AAST/Projects/depression

        a.  In your OWN words describe the 4 main causes of The Great Depression.

        b.  Discuss some of the problems that arose as a result of The Great Depression.

        c.  Compare Presidents Hoover and Roosevelt's philosophies of how to help America recover from the effects of The Great Depression.

#4  Sharecropping is a major topic in Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry.  Use the following website to read about sharecropping.  Then compile a list of why you believe sharecropping did not benefit African American's.  The list can be bulleted or numbered.

http://collections.ic.gc.ca/blackloyalists/story/suffering/serfs.htm

#5  Growing up African American in the 1930's was not easy.  Read the interview on the website below of an African American woman who grew up in the South in the 1930's.  Then create a one page diary entry that she could have written as a young girl during that time.

http://library.thinkquest.org/12111/mculley.html?tqskip1=1

#6  Living in the 1930's was definitely difficult when it came to buying basic necessities.  Use the websites below to look up prices of what basic things cost back in the 1930's.  Make a spreadsheet of cost using the criteria listed below.

     a.  http://www.michigan.gov/hal/0,1607,7-160-15481_19268_20778-52530--,00.html

     b.  http://www.gti.net/mocolib1/prices/1934.html

     c.  http://www.becker.k12.mn.us/ourtown/1930's/business.html

     d. http://www.mcsc.k12.in.us/madedo/pri30a.htm

     e. http://www.mcsc.k12.in.us/madedo/pri32-33.htm

              1.  make a list of items column, a "then" column, a "now" column, and a difference column on your spreadsheet.

          2.  have at least 20 items listed, and use the webpages to help you find the prices of items in the 1930's.  Use a search engine to find the prices of those same items now.  (Sears.com, Target.com, Walmart.com, etc.)

          3.  Calculate the differences in the last column.

          4.  Choose 5 items on your list.  If you were a cook back then, how many weeks would you have to work to buy those items?  If you were a doctor how many weeks would you have to work to buy those items?

          5.  Choose the same 5 items on your list.  Imagine you are a cook in 2004, and your weekly earnings are $500.  How many weeks would you have to work to buy those same items today?  If you were a doctor and your weekly earnings were $2000, how much would you have to work to buy those items?

 

Conclusion

    Hopefully you have gained a better understanding of life in the 1930's during The Great Depression.  Now that you have all six parts of this webquest completed, be sure to put it all in your binder/folder and hand it in.  Congratulations on your journey back in time, well done!  You are officially ready to begin "Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry".