Ken Burns documents the worst human-made ecological disaster in American history, when a frenzied wheat boom on the southern plains, followed by a decade-long drought during the 1930s, nearly swept away the breadbasket of the nation. Menacing black blizzards killed farmers' crops and livestock, threatened the lives of their children, and forced thousands of desperate families to move somewhere else. Includes interviews, photographs, and seldom-seen movie footage to tell incredible stories of human suffering and perseverance. Disc 1 includes classroom resources correlated to junior and senior high school curricula; lesson plans correlated to the national standards in U.S. history, economics, geography and environmental studies, and journalism; and video clips that emphasize lesson themes.