The Great Depression

The Wall Street stock-market crash of 1929 precipitated the Great Depression, the worst economic downturn in the history of the United States. The depression had devastating effects on the country. The stock market was in shambles. Many banks couldn't continue to operate. Farmers fell into bankruptcy. A quarter of the working force, or 13 million people, were unemployed in 1932, and this was only the beginning. The depression lasted over a decade, with hundreds of thousands of Americans losing their jobs, businesses failing, and financial institutions collapsing.

The Task

Your teacher has placed you into groups or assigned you to work on individual projects. You are to find information to answer six questions about the Great depression and then write your personal reflection about today's economy. Each answer should be at least 1 paragraph.

1. What was the Great Depression and name 4 possible causes?

2. How did the Great Depression affect urban life?

3. How did the Great Depression affect rural life?

4. How did the depression in the United States affect the rest of the world?

5. Who suffered most during the Great Depression and why?

6. Reflect on what you have learned. Do you see a similar pattern developing now? Could this happen again?

7. Create a PowerPoint presentation of your findings. You will be video taped during the presentation.

The Process

Prior to beginning the assignments (#4-9) you must complete the following independent activities(#1,2,3). After visiting the sites click the "Back" button on your browser to return to this page. Print out the work form at the end of the resource section before you begin your research. (forms will be given to each student). Form your groups to answer questions 4 -9.

Take a short "Quiz" to see what you know about the "Great Depression".

2. Use these resources to explore your economic choices, given your assigned profession: Then and Now, and Automobiles. Using your weekly wage, determine how many hours or weeks of work it would take you to buy the following items:

an electric washing machine
a Ford automobile
a winter coat
a quart of milk
a loaf of bread
a gallon of gasoline
a doll
a pound of round steak

3. Reflect on the cost of the items listed on your work form. Pick one of the jobs and determine how long you would have to work to purchase a new Chrysler Sedan. Write that answer on your work form.

4. What was the Great Depression and name 4 possible causes?

5. How did the Great Depression affect urban life?

6. How did the Great Depression affect rural life?

7. How did the depression in the United States affect the rest of the world?

8. Who suffered most during the Great Depression and why?

9. Reflect on what you have learned. Do you see a similar pattern developing now? Could this happen again?

Citations:

Give credit to the sites and evaluate the sites used in the research.
Example:
The Great Depression; A project on the hungry decade of change by class 11M, Point Grey Mini School. [online]Available http://trinculo.educ.sfu.ca/pgm/depress/greatdepress.html#popcul, February 25, 1997.

Resources

Use the following sites for your research.

Riding the rails became an escape for some.

*Print out a work form to use with this assignment*

Evaluation

You will receive a grade for the summary paragraphs and site bibliography written by your group. You will receive a grade for the work form written from your individual research. The individual mark will be 70% and the group mark will be 30% of your final grade.

Power Point Rubric

Conclusion

There certainly is a lot to learn about the Great Depression in the United States. In this assignment you learned a bit about the economic condition of some families. The times were so different from today. However, there are many people you might talk with about living during this time. Find someone in your family or community to ask about their life in the 1930's in America.

This page written by Aldor L. Matta