Title:
Type:
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Grade Range:
Description:
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Author(s):
Creative Problem Solving
Lesson Plan
Social Studies
3
Great Depression
2+ Hours
Jessica Foster
Instructional Unit Content
Standard(s)/Element(s)
Content Area Standard
SS3H1 The student will explain the political roots of our modern democracy in the United States of
America.
SS3H2 The student will discuss the lives of Americans who expanded peoples rights and freedoms in a
democracy
SS3H2a. Paul Revere (independence), Frederick Douglass (civil rights), Susan B. Anthony (womens rights),
Mary McLeod Bethune (education), Franklin D. Roosevelt (New Deal and World War II), Eleanor
Roosevelt (United Nations and human rights), Thurgood Mars
TAG Standard
Creative Thinking and Problem Solving
2. The student designs, applies, evaluates, and adapts a variety of innovative strategies to when
problem solving (e.g., recognizes problems, defines problems, identifies possible solutions, selects optimal
solution, implements solution, and evaluates solution).
3. The student incorporates brainstorming and other idea-generating techniques (synectics, SCAMPER,
etc.) to solve problems or create new products.
Summary/Overview
The focus of this lesson is to creatively identify and solve the problem of the Great Depression in the
United States.
Enduring Understanding(s)
At the end of this lesson the student will understand
a. The growth and development of America was affected negatively and positively by economic
and political factors in the country.
b. Many problems and solutions can be attributed to the same set of events.
Essential Question(s)
How did the Great Depression affect Americans in the 1930s? What are some ways that America
could have gotten out of the Great Depression?
Concept(s) to Maintain
Great Depression
The Rules of Brainstorming
Evidence of Learning
What students should know:
a. Herbert Hoover was president when the Great Depression happened.
b. The Wall Street Crash of 1929 was one of the main causes of the Great Depression.
c. Many families lost their jobs and became homeless.
d. Families did not have enough money to provide for their children and many became sick and
died.
e. Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected as president in the middle of the Great Depression.
f. Roosevelt came up with a plan called The New Deal to get Americans out of the Great
Depression.
What students should be able to do:
a. design, apply, evaluate, and adapt a variety of innovative strategies to when problem solving
(e.g., recognizes problems, defines problems, identifies possible solutions, selects optimal solution,
implements solution, and evaluates solution).
b. incorporate brainstorming and other idea-generating techniques (synectics, SCAMPER, etc.) to
solve problems or create new products.
Suggested Vocabulary
Herbert Hoover
Poverty
Stock market
Great Depression
Franklin D. Roosevelt
The New Deal
Procedure(s)
Phase 1: Hook
1. Students will participate in a Guided Imagery Exercise. Students will record and discuss feelings that
result from the guided imagery.
Phase 2: Examine the Content
2. Mess: Distribute the Great Depression Packet. Students will read the mess individually.
3.
Students will work in small group to list all the facts and opinions obtained from the reading. Each
group will generate a list of unanswered questions to research for homework or in the media center.
Phase 3: Creative Problem Solving
4.
Review the Rules of Brainstorming: 1)Go for quantity. 2) Wild and crazy ideas are okay. 3) Piggy-back
on the ideas of others. 4) No judgmentpositive or negative.
5.
Problem-Finding: Each group will brainstorm the problems seen as a result of the mess. Opportunity is
provided for grouping of similar problems and selecting from the top three. From the top three
problems, each group will develop a solvable problem statement beginning with How might we
6.
Idea-Finding: Each group will brainstorm solutions to the problem statement. Opportunity is provided
for grouping of similar problems and selecting from the top five.
7.
Solution-Finding: Each group will develop criteria to evaluate the five solutions and use a decisionmaking grid to determine the best solution. Opportunity is provided for research to make valid
evaluations against the criteria.
8.
Acceptance-Finding: Each group will develop an action plan for implementing the solution.
Phase 4: Synthesis Activity
9.
Each group will develop a product (e.g., persuasive letter, flow chart, speech, etc.) for sharing its
solution for the Great Depression.
Summarizing Activity
Shapely Debrief
In regards to the conflict with the Great Depression
Something I learned that squares with my beliefs
Three points to remember
One question still going around in your mind
Resource(s):
"Great Depression Facts and Information for Kids KidsKonnect." KidsKonnect. N.p., 20 July 2011. Web. 04
Feb. 2015
Anchor Text(s):
Technology:
Websites and multiple resources for research for a variety of reading level.
Handouts:
Handout 1:
Handout 2:
Handout 3:
Handout 4:
Hook- Guided Imagery Exercise
Great Depression Packet
Rules of Brainstorming
Shapely Debrief
Guided Imagery for the Great Depression
Please find a comfortable sitting position. You may rest your head on your desk if you like.
Close your eyes and sit very quietly. Take a couple of moments and notice how your body
feels. Are you holding your breath, or do you breathe evenly? Notice if you feel any tension
or stress in any part of your body. Now youre going to relax your body as you relax your
breath.
Breathe in and out and in and out. Feel the tension in your body created by
a hard day at school. Breathe in and out Feel the tension run from your body and
out your toes. Breathe in and out exhale. Allow yourself to let go of any thoughts or
worries. Continue to breathe in and out.
You are a young person and live with your parents in California. You awake on a rainy
morning to the sound of thunder. You sit up in bed and look around your messy room that
you share with your siblings. Your stomach growls because you went to bed without dinner
last night. As you walk out of your room, you see the family gathered around the table as
your mother breaks apart one piece of bread for everyone to share for breakfast. You notice
that your mom is getting thin as she hands you the last piece. She looks like she hasnt eaten
for days. You tell her that you are not hungry hoping that she will eat the piece of bread
instead. As you look out of the window, you see men up the road waiting for the train to take
them to beg for work in town. You see your father waiting, so you go outside to join him.
You immediately see grief go over your fathers face when he sees you. Your father knows
that since schools are closed now, you need to spend your time helping make some money
for the family. As you think about your life now, you cant help but think how much has
changed in the past year. Your family once lived in a big, beautiful house. Your father had a
wonderful job as a banker, and there was always plenty of food on the table. Ever since
Black Tuesday, everything changed. Now, your family lives in a small shack. There are days
when there is barely enough food to feed everyone. You feel an extreme sadness deep
inside your heart. Will life ever go back to normal? Concentrate on all of the thoughts and
emotions running through your mind.
Now bring yourself back to the present as I count to five. Open your eyes at the count of
five. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Slowly open your eyes and write how you felt and reacted as a young
person in California whose family is poor, and you have to help your father work to make
money.
THE GREAT DEPRESSION
Herbert Hoover was president when the
Great Depression began. He declared in
March 1930, that the U.S. had passed
the worst and argued that the economy
would sort itself out. The worst, however,
had just begun and would last until the
outbreak of World War II in 1939.
The causes of the Great Depression are
widely debated. There was no single
cause, but several things when working
together made it happen. A weak
banking system, over-production of
goods, over spending, and bursting
credit bubble were just some of the
reasons. The Wall Street Crash of 1929
was one of the main causes of the Great
Depression. This stock market crash was
the most devastating crash in the history
of the United States. On Black Tuesday,
October 29, 1929, the stock market lost
$14 billion, making the loss for that week
an astounding $30 billion. It took 23 years
for the stock market to hit the high it was
at before the crash.
As news of the stock market crash
spread, customers rushed to their banks
to withdraw their money, causing
disastrous bank runs. People who had
been very wealthy lost everything they
had and some committed suicide. Many
companies went out of business and
huge numbers of people lost their jobs. At
the peak of the depression, 1 out of
every 4 people were without a job.
Between 1930 and 1935, nearly 750,000
farms were lost through bankruptcy or
sheriff sales.
People who lost their homes often lived
in what were called Hoovervilles, or
shanty towns, that were named after
President Herbert Hoover. There was also
Hoover Stew which was the name for
food handed out to the poor at soup
kitchens. Hoover Blankets were
newspapers that were being used to
cover people like a blanket. Hoover
Hogs were jack rabbits that were used
for food, and Hoover Wagons were
broken down cars that were pulled by
mules.
Some people who became homeless
would ride on railroad cars, because
they didnt have money to travel. Some
believe that more than 50,000 people
were injured or killed while jumping trains.
Many of these people traveled together
and were called hobos.
Almost half of the children who were
living in the United States at that time did
not have enough food, shelter, or
medical care. Many suffered diseases. By
the 1930s, thousands of schools were
operating on reduced hours or were
closed down entirely. Some three million
children had left school, and at least
200,000 took to riding the rails either with
their parents or as orphans.
African Americans, Native Americans,
Mexican Americans and women were
bitterly discriminated and the hardest hit
during the Great Depression. They were
looked at as the groups that could take
jobs away from white men. The Great
Depression also changed the family in
several ways. Many couples delayed
getting married, and divorce rates and
birth rates dropped. Some men also
abandoned their families. A 1940 poll
revealed that 1.5 million married women
had been abandoned by their husbands.
The board game Monopoly, which first
became available in 1935, became
popular because players could become
rich during the playing of the game. The
Three Little Pigs was seen as a symbol
of the Great Depression, with the wolf
representing the Depression and the
three little pigs representing average
citizens who eventually succeeded by
working together.
"Great Depression Facts and Information
for Kids KidsKonnect." KidsKonnect.
N.p., 20 July 2011. Web. 04 Feb. 2015.
CPS Step 1: Fact Finding
List all of the important details and facts that you can from the mess.
List at least three questions that you need answered to completely understand
the mess.
1.
2.
3.
CPS Step 2: Problem Finding
Brainstorm the many, varied, and unusual problems that result from the mess.
Create a problem statement.
How might we
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________?
CPS Step 3: Idea Finding
Brainstorm the many, varied, and unusual possible solutions to the problem.
How might we
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________?
Brainstorm the many, varied, and unusual criteria that can be used to evaluate
the solutions to the problem.
CPS Step 4: Solution Finding
Solutions/Criteria
CPS Step 5: Acceptance Finding
Develop an action plan for implementing your solution. Be sure to include
who should be involved
a timeline
a way to evaluate the success or appropriateness
Rules of Brainstorming
1. Go for quantity.
2. Wild and crazy ideas are okay.
3. Piggy-back on the ideas of
others.
4. No judgmentpositive or
negative.
In regards to the Great Depression conflict
beliefs
Something I learned that SQUARES with my
SHAPELY
A question going
AROUND in my
mind
Three important POINTS to remember
