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Tip

This tutorial was expanded and adapted from Thomas, R.. (2008). In Time and Place, "Dust Bowl." Retrieved October 5, 2010, from In Time and Place: http://www.intimeandplace.org/Dust%20Bowl/index.html.

Thomas' focus is in teaching GIS skills. Many humanities and social sciences instructors may want to use these excellent resources, but feel that teaching GIS to students is outside the scope of their curriculum. This ArcGIS Explorer Desktop adaptation of the Dust Bowl unit is meant to aid instructors who do not have access to ArcGIS software or who might not have the time to teach GIS skills in the classroom. All files for the tutorial are included in a link on this page. Original versions of files (shapefiles, raster files, and ArcMap files) on which the layer files for this tutorial were based can be found under the link for the Dust Bowl GIS files at the original site.

Other tutorials using GIS for American History, including units on The Great Migration, Japanese Internment during World War II, and others can be found at In Time and Place.org.

Table of Contents

Install ArcGIS Explorer Desktop

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Follow all instructions under the topics, "Getting Ready to Use ArcGIS Explorer Desktop," and "Download ArcGIS Explorer Desktop." If you require assistance with the download process, click on the yellow Get Support button at the bottom of the left hand side of the download page.

Download Dust Bowl Tutorial Files

Info

All files, including copies of Rick Thomas' original GIS files, have been included in the package for this tutorial. Layer files (all files with the .lyr file extension) were created by Krista White, GIS Support Specialist, Drew University. All other files were created by Rick Thomas. Thomas' original files are included because they serve as a source for the Layer Files (.lyr files)used by ArcGIS Explorer. Some original files have had a spatial reference added to them for the purpose of creating the Layer Files.

  1. Download the zipped tutorial files at: Dust Bowl.zip. Be aware that the zipped package is approximately 41MB, so please allow sufficient time and memory space on your computer for download.To find files for this tutorial, go to https://depts.drew.edu/envstudies/GIS Tutorials/Dust Bowl.zip
  2. A dialog box will appear titled, "Opening Dust Bowl.zip." Save the file to your computer's Desktop.
  3. Navigate to the desktop of your computer and unzip the file. To do this, right click on the Dust Bowl.zip folder. (click image to enlarge)



  4. Choose Extract All. The Windows Extraction Wizard will appear.
  5. Click Next. Make sure that the field under "Files will be extracted to this directory" points to your computer's desktop. (click image to enlarge)



  6. If it does not point to your computer's Desktop, click the Browse button. The select a destination dialog box will appear.
  7. Choose the Desktop option that appears at the very top of the window in the dialog box. You may need to use the scroll bar on the right hand side of the window to see the Desktop Option. (click image to enlarge)



  8. Click OK.
  9. Once this field points to your computer's Desktop, click Next. Windows will unzip the file and tell you that the extraction is complete.
  10. During the unzipping process, you may get a dialog box asking you to replace a file: (click image to enlarge)

    Image Added

    This action attempts to replace an older file with an existing new file. Click the No button to prevent the replacement of the newer file.
  11. Click the Finish button.

Getting Started with ArcGIS Explorer Desktop

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  1. In ArcGIS Explorer, click on the Add Content button in the Map group of the Home tab.
  2. Click ArcGIS Layers. An Open dialog box will appear. (click image to enlarge)




  3. Find the Dust Bowl folder on your computer's desktop.
  4. Add files in the following order:
    1. APR4YRAVT – Question 3 (April average temperatures for the year s1930-1934)
    2. MAR4YRAVT-- Question 3 (March average temperatures for the year s1930-1934)
    3. FEB4YRAVT-- Question 3 (February average temperatures for the year s1930-1934)
    4. JAN4YRAVT-- Question 3 (January average temperatures for the year s1930-1934)
    5. APR35AVT-- Question 3 (Monthly average temperatures for April of 1935)
    6. MAR35AVT-- Question 3 (Monthly average temperatures for March of 1935)
    7. FEB35AVT-- Question 3 (Monthly average temperatures for February of 1935)
    8. JAN35AVT-- Question 3 (Monthly average temperatures for January of 1935)
    9. WINTSPR35 – Question 2 (Average total rainfall in the months January - April for the year 1935)
    10. WINTSPRAVE-- Question 2 (Average total rainfall in the months January - April for the years 1930-1934)
Raster Data:
  1. Click on the Add Content button in the Map group of the Home tab.
  2. Choose Raster Data.... An Open dialog box will appear.
  3. Find the Dust Bowl folder on your computer's desktop.
  4. Double click on the folder titled Files.
  5. Add the  3907_%Sandy Soil.jpg (for Question 1) file to your map by clicking on it once, then clicking the Open button. (click image to enlarge)



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  1. Click on the Add Content button in the Map group of the Home tab.
  2. Choose Raster Data.... An Open dialog box will appear.
  3. Find the Dust Bowl folder on your computer's desktop.
  4. Double click on the folder titled Files.
  5. Add files in the following order:
    1. Dust 1940-- Question 1 (Areas of most severe dust for 1940)
    2. Dust 1938-- Question 1 (Areas of most severe dust for 1938)
    3. Dust 1930-- Question 1 (Areas of most severe dust for 1930)
    4. United States – For General Reference

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You can make layers visible and invisible by checking and unchecking the box next to each Label Name.

Save Your Examining Conclusions Map

  1. Save your Examining Conclusions worksheet map by clicking on the round ArcGIS Explorer button at the top, left hand corner of the screen.
  2. From the pull down menu that appears, choose Save As.
  3. Click on the ArcGIS Explorer Map option to save the map with a name you give it. (click on image to enlarge) Image Removed
  4. In the Save As dialog box, navigate to the Dust Bowl folder on your computer's Desktop.
  5. Name the file Dust Bowl Examining Conclusions.nmf.
    SDCDustBowlSaveArcGISExplorerMap.jpg
    Image Added

  6. Click Save.

Create a

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Great Plains Farming Worksheet Map

Follow the same steps you used to Add Content to the Examining Conclusions Map. For the Great Plains Farming Map, add the Layers in the following order

Layer Files:
  1. 1940GreatPlainsHarvestedAcres - Question 1
  2. 1930 GreatPlainsHarvestedAcres - Question 1
  3. 1940AvgAcresperFarm - Question 1
  4. 1930AvgAcresperFarm - Question 1
  5. 1940NoFarmsperCounty - Question 1
  6. 1930NoFarmsperCounty – Question 1
Shapefiles:

United States – General Reference

Change the Symbology of the Shapefile

Change the Symbology of the United States Shapefile as you did for the Examining Conclusions Worksheet Map.

Save Your Great Plains Farming Map

Name the file Dust Bowl Great Plains Farming.nmf.

Questions 2 and 3 of the Great Plains Farming worksheet are ArcMap practice exercises, and not suitable for use with ArcGIS Explorer.