Solve the clues. Unlock the codes. Survive the 1930s.
Escape the Great Depression
Begin Your Journey
The Journey
It’s 1933. The country is in crisis.
You must travel across the United States and uncover clues about how Americans survived the Great Depression.
Each station contains 3-4 questions.
Answer all correctly to earn a station code.
Collect all 5 codes to escape.
Final Lock
Stations
Dorothea Lange & Migrant Mother
Dorothea Lange was a photographer who captured photos of many people who suffered during the Great Depression. Her photographs became famous and she is still considered one of the greatest documentary photographers who has ever lived. The most famous photograph taken by Lange is that of a mother with seven children known as “Migrant Mother.” Although she is relatively young at the age of 32, she appears much older in the photograph due to the harsh conditions she faced. The series of photographs of this family documents not just the hardship but also the determination and resiliency of people, specifically the pea pickers, during the Great Depression. Many people were PUZZLED by the Great Depression. Adapting and finding jobs was the KEY to surviving the financial woes plaguing the nation. Lange’s photography was like a MAGNIFYING glass… It provided an up close and personal look at people in the midst of the worst economic times in the United Stated.
Next
You Solved This Station
Congratulations
Write Down this Code:
Go to Station Selection
The Dust Bowl
- Most states in the Great Plains had record low amounts of rain during the Dust Bowl, especially in 1936. The lowest amount of rainfall in that region left residents with little choice but to move.
- John Steinbeck wrote a famous novel about the Dust Bowl. His "Grapes of Wrath" chronicled the Joad family's journey west to find jobs.
- The year 1935 was the worst for Amarillo which was hit by 908 total hours of storm. One complete blackout caused by dust storms lasted 11 hours.
- On May 11, 1934, dust from thousands of miles away covered the Statue of Liberty for five hours.
- On May 28, 1937, one dust cloud measuring 1500 feet high and a mile wide covered the community of Clayton, NM.
Next
You Solved This Station
Congratulations
Write Down this Code:
Go to Station Selection
Hobo Codes
Hoboes used secret symbols to communicate safety, danger, and opportunities. Decode the clues to earn your next code. Symbols were necessary not only because many hoboes could not read or write but also because they kept the messages secretive.
Next
You Solved This Station
Congratulations
Write Down this Code:
Go to Station Selecttion
Riding the Rails
Many people forced off the farm heard about work hundreds of miles away ... or even half a continent away. Often the only way they could get there was by hopping on freight trains, illegally. More than two million men and perhaps 8,000 women became hoboes. At least 6,500 hoboes were killed in one year either in accidents or by railroad "bulls," brutal guards hired by the railroads to make sure the trains carried only paying customers. Finding food was a constant problem. Hoboes often begged for food at a local farmhouse. If the farmer was generous, the hobo would mark the lane so that later hoboes would know this was a good place to beg. Millie Opitz remembers hoboes coming to her neighborhood. Riding the rails was dangerous. The bulls were hired to keep hoboes off trains, so you couldn't just go to a railroad yard and climb on. Most hoboes would hide along the tracks outside the yard. They'd run along the train as it gained speed, grab hold and jump into open boxcars. Sometimes, they missed. Many lost their legs or their lives. As the train was reaching its destination, the hoboes had to jump off before a new set of bulls came to arrest them or beat them up. But no amount of clubbing or shooting could keep all of the hoboes off the trains. In many cases, the hoboes had no other choice but to hop a freight and look for work.
Next
Riding the Rails
Walter Ballard was one young man who became a hobo. He remembers the Depression getting so bad that his family didn't have enough to eat. At least in the hobo jungles, they would share food with each other. Walter remembers the bulls. "I been hijacked by them railroad bulls in the yards, and they get rough. See, there was so many of us on the rails, they couldn't let you congregate in one town." But at least one time, in Chadron, Nebraska, there were so many hoboes on a train that the brakeman gave up. "There was so many people on it, it looked like blackbirds," Walter said. "Believe it or not, when we got ready to go that old brakeman hollered, 'All aboard!' just like it was a passenger train. Then we felt at ease." Surprisingly, after all the danger and the rough conditions, Walter enjoyed the experience. "I loved it," he said. "It'll get in your blood. You're not agoing anywhere, you don't care, you just ride. It's paid for. You're going to eat, that was more than you was doing at home, probably." Hopping freights became so common that in 1933 Warner Brothers studio – at the time run by Nebraska Darryl F. Zanuck – produced a film called "Wild Boys of the Road" to try to scare young people away from riding the rails. In the film, a boy falls on the track and loses his leg to an oncoming train. The celebrated director William Wellman completed the film for Zanuck.
Back
Next
You Solved This Station
Congratulations
Write Down this Code:
Go to Station Selection
Great Depression Statistics
The Great Depression caused major changes in unemployment, income, GDP, and bank failures.
Use the statistical data to answer all 3 questions and earn your final code
Next
You Solved This Station
Congratulations
Write Down this Code:
Go to Station Selection
Final Escape Lock
Go to Station Selection
You Escaped
You survived the journey and escaped the Great Depression.Your knowledge and problem‑solving carried you through one of the toughest decades in World History.
Take a screenshot of this page to submit to Google Classroom. Start working on the reflection.
WRONG!
The answer is wrong
WRONG!
The answer is wrong
WRONG!
The answer is wrong
WRONG!
The answer is wrong
WRONG!
The answer is wrong
WRONG!
The answer is wrong
WRONG!
The answer is wrong
WRONG!
The answer is wrong
WRONG!
The answer is wrong
Answer is Wrong
Try Again.
Look at the codes again
WRONG!
The answer is wrong
WRONG!
The answer is wrong
WRONG!
The answer is wrong
WRONG!
The answer is wrong
WRONG!
The answer is wrong
WRONG!
The answer is wrong
WRONG!
The answer is wrong
Escape the Great Depression
Trevor Riddle
Created on April 5, 2026
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Transcript
Solve the clues. Unlock the codes. Survive the 1930s.
Escape the Great Depression
Begin Your Journey
The Journey
It’s 1933. The country is in crisis. You must travel across the United States and uncover clues about how Americans survived the Great Depression. Each station contains 3-4 questions. Answer all correctly to earn a station code. Collect all 5 codes to escape.
Final Lock
Stations
Dorothea Lange & Migrant Mother
Dorothea Lange was a photographer who captured photos of many people who suffered during the Great Depression. Her photographs became famous and she is still considered one of the greatest documentary photographers who has ever lived. The most famous photograph taken by Lange is that of a mother with seven children known as “Migrant Mother.” Although she is relatively young at the age of 32, she appears much older in the photograph due to the harsh conditions she faced. The series of photographs of this family documents not just the hardship but also the determination and resiliency of people, specifically the pea pickers, during the Great Depression. Many people were PUZZLED by the Great Depression. Adapting and finding jobs was the KEY to surviving the financial woes plaguing the nation. Lange’s photography was like a MAGNIFYING glass… It provided an up close and personal look at people in the midst of the worst economic times in the United Stated.
Next
You Solved This Station
Congratulations
Write Down this Code:
Go to Station Selection
The Dust Bowl
Next
You Solved This Station
Congratulations
Write Down this Code:
Go to Station Selection
Hobo Codes
Hoboes used secret symbols to communicate safety, danger, and opportunities. Decode the clues to earn your next code. Symbols were necessary not only because many hoboes could not read or write but also because they kept the messages secretive.
Next
You Solved This Station
Congratulations
Write Down this Code:
Go to Station Selecttion
Riding the Rails
Many people forced off the farm heard about work hundreds of miles away ... or even half a continent away. Often the only way they could get there was by hopping on freight trains, illegally. More than two million men and perhaps 8,000 women became hoboes. At least 6,500 hoboes were killed in one year either in accidents or by railroad "bulls," brutal guards hired by the railroads to make sure the trains carried only paying customers. Finding food was a constant problem. Hoboes often begged for food at a local farmhouse. If the farmer was generous, the hobo would mark the lane so that later hoboes would know this was a good place to beg. Millie Opitz remembers hoboes coming to her neighborhood. Riding the rails was dangerous. The bulls were hired to keep hoboes off trains, so you couldn't just go to a railroad yard and climb on. Most hoboes would hide along the tracks outside the yard. They'd run along the train as it gained speed, grab hold and jump into open boxcars. Sometimes, they missed. Many lost their legs or their lives. As the train was reaching its destination, the hoboes had to jump off before a new set of bulls came to arrest them or beat them up. But no amount of clubbing or shooting could keep all of the hoboes off the trains. In many cases, the hoboes had no other choice but to hop a freight and look for work.
Next
Riding the Rails
Walter Ballard was one young man who became a hobo. He remembers the Depression getting so bad that his family didn't have enough to eat. At least in the hobo jungles, they would share food with each other. Walter remembers the bulls. "I been hijacked by them railroad bulls in the yards, and they get rough. See, there was so many of us on the rails, they couldn't let you congregate in one town." But at least one time, in Chadron, Nebraska, there were so many hoboes on a train that the brakeman gave up. "There was so many people on it, it looked like blackbirds," Walter said. "Believe it or not, when we got ready to go that old brakeman hollered, 'All aboard!' just like it was a passenger train. Then we felt at ease." Surprisingly, after all the danger and the rough conditions, Walter enjoyed the experience. "I loved it," he said. "It'll get in your blood. You're not agoing anywhere, you don't care, you just ride. It's paid for. You're going to eat, that was more than you was doing at home, probably." Hopping freights became so common that in 1933 Warner Brothers studio – at the time run by Nebraska Darryl F. Zanuck – produced a film called "Wild Boys of the Road" to try to scare young people away from riding the rails. In the film, a boy falls on the track and loses his leg to an oncoming train. The celebrated director William Wellman completed the film for Zanuck.
Back
Next
You Solved This Station
Congratulations
Write Down this Code:
Go to Station Selection
Great Depression Statistics
The Great Depression caused major changes in unemployment, income, GDP, and bank failures. Use the statistical data to answer all 3 questions and earn your final code
Next
You Solved This Station
Congratulations
Write Down this Code:
Go to Station Selection
Final Escape Lock
Go to Station Selection
You Escaped
You survived the journey and escaped the Great Depression.Your knowledge and problem‑solving carried you through one of the toughest decades in World History.
Take a screenshot of this page to submit to Google Classroom. Start working on the reflection.
WRONG!
The answer is wrong
WRONG!
The answer is wrong
WRONG!
The answer is wrong
WRONG!
The answer is wrong
WRONG!
The answer is wrong
WRONG!
The answer is wrong
WRONG!
The answer is wrong
WRONG!
The answer is wrong
WRONG!
The answer is wrong
Answer is Wrong
Try Again.
Look at the codes again
WRONG!
The answer is wrong
WRONG!
The answer is wrong
WRONG!
The answer is wrong
WRONG!
The answer is wrong
WRONG!
The answer is wrong
WRONG!
The answer is wrong
WRONG!
The answer is wrong