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The Crash of 1929 offers insights into topics in American history including market mechanics, the history of Wall Street, economic forecasting, the zeitgeist of the 1920s, morality and the market, the effect of economic cycles on political trends, the lifestyles of the American elite, and more. Use the film or this web site to learn more, either in a classroom or on your own.

The following activities are grouped into 4 categories:

• Economics
• History
• Civics
• Geography

You can also read a few helpful hints for completing the activities.

Economics

Activity 1: Wall Street for beginners

Working together as a class, prepare a Beginners Guide to the U.S. Stock Market for people who know little or nothing about the topic.

Assign one group of students to find the meaning of each of the following terms and then write a simple definition:

• share of stock
• stock broker
• stock market
• bear market
• bull market
• rally
• profit
• loss
• speculation
• Dow Jones
• NASDAQ
• New York Stock Exchange
• S&P 500
• Wall Street

(The group should add definitions of any other terms it thinks would be useful.)

Assign a second group of students to learn how to read the stock market listings in the newspaper or online and then prepare a chart showing what the numbers and abbreviations mean. Assign a third group of students to prepare a line graph showing changes in the value of the stock market over the past ten years.

When all groups have finished, assemble the pieces to form a booklet. Then distribute copies to classmates and family members and ask for feedback on whether readers found the booklet helpful in explaining the market.

Activity 2: Virtual investing

Choose one company that is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and imagine you will purchase 100 shares of its stock at the current price. Write down the price you would pay if you were actually to make the purchase. Now, keep track of the change in its price each day over the next four weeks and chart these changes on a line graph. Starting at the beginning of the third week, you have the option of selling your shares whenever you wish, or holding on to them.

At the four-week anniversary of your purchase of the stock, calculate how much money you made or lost. Could you have made more or lost less if you had sold at a different time?

History

Activity 1: Songs of the times

Just as the popular song Blue Skies, mentioned in the film, symbolized the optimism of the pre-Crash 1920s, the song Brother Can You Spare a Dime symbolized the despair of the post-Crash 1930s. Working with a partner, prepare two posters, one of each of the two songs. The poster should include the full lyrics of the song as well as photos from the period (or, if you prefer, your original drawings) that reflect the songs message and mood.

Activity 2: The roller-coaster market

Next, imagine that you are an investor in the stock market during this period. For each month between January 1929 and December 1930, list one reason why it might be wise to sell your shares of stock at this time and one reason why it might be wise not to sell them. How do the headlines and the graph help you understand what it was like to live through the Great Crash?