Background: This compelling PBS “American Experience” video interviews people who lived during the Dust Bowl era from 1931 to Black Sunday, April 13, 1945. Duration: 52:31 You can find the Internet link to the PBS video at http://video.pbs.org/video/1311363860 Click here to go the PBS video. You can find the text from chapter 1 of “The Grapes of Wrath”, which provides a vivid description of the Dust Bowl at http://instruct.westvalley.edu/kelly/Distance_Learning/History_17B/Readings/Steinbeck_Grapes.htm Click here to download a copy of Chapter 1. Activities: 1. Have students color in the map of the great plains area to get a feel for the states that are considered to be part of the ‘Dust Bowl’. 2. Use the companion teacher’s guide, “Surviving the Dust Bowl’. Excerpts from “The Grapes of Wrath” are included in the Steinbeck Festival notes. Both are found on the festival website. 3. Discuss the plight of migrant workers. View the footage from the 2011 Steinbeck Institute visit to the lettuce and strawberry fields.